Yemen cholera outbreak claims 47 lives in 2 weeks, says UN

The UN has confirmed at least 47 cholera-associated deaths across Yemen in the past two weeks, several months after the outbreak of the infectious disease was declared in the war-torn Arab country.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday that at least 2,301 suspected cases were identified in several governorates, including the capital Sana’a.

Laboratory testing confirmed the highly contagious infection in 10 governorates in the north, south and along the Red Sea coast, the UN agency said.

On Tuesday, Doctors Without Borders said it had independently treated nearly 800 cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea in Yemen since March 30.

The charity group, also known as the MSF by its French acronym, said patients were traveling dozens of kilometers in difficult conditions to reach treatment centers.

Last October, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the grim news of cholera outbreak in Yemen, and three weeks later the number of cholera cases across the country soared to hundreds.

Last year, nearly 130 people lost their lives due to an outbreak of cholera and acute watery diarrhea in Yemen.