WHO warns of cholera outbreak again in Yemen

SANAA, Feb. 27 (YPA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations warned on Monday that the cholera epidemic in Yemen, which killed more than 2,000 people, could spread again in the rain season.

WHO Deputy Director General for Emergency Preparedness and Response Peter Salama said the number of cases of cholera has declined in Yemen in the last twenty months after reaching the threshold of one million cases suspected of infection.

“But the real problem is that we are entering another rainy season,” Salama added.

He expected an increase of cholera cases in April and another potential increase in August.

Salama said Yemen had also seen an outbreak of diphtheria, which usually affects children, and it can be prevented through vaccination, noting that developed countries have largely eliminated it.

He added that the outbreak of cholera and diphtheria was caused by damage to the health system in Yemen.

The cholera epidemic and other epidemics that spread in Yemen caused by the war led by Saudi Arabia against Yemeni people, using the “biological epidemics” weapon.

Ali/bam