A cholera-infected woman receives medical treatment at the corridor of a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, on May 13, 2017. A cholera outbreak in Yemen has killed 51 people in two weeks and caused around 2,752 suspected cases since April 27, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday in a statement on its website. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed)
SANAA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A cholera outbreak in Yemen has killed 51 people in two weeks and caused around 2,752 suspected cases since April 27, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday in a statement on its website.
The cases were reported from 10 provinces, including the capital Sanaa, according to the statement.
"We are very concerned with the re-emergence of cholera across several areas of Yemen in the past couple of weeks. Efforts must be scaled up now to contain the outbreak and avoid a dramatic increase in cases of diarrhoeal disease," said Dr Nevio Zagaria, WHO Representative in Yemen.
WHO said the uptick in cholera cases comes as Yemen's already weakened health system struggles under the weight of two years of conflict.
It said key infrastructure, including water and sanitation facilities, "is collapsing," contributing to the spread of diarrhoeal disease.
The weather is also playing a role. WHO said the pathogens that cause cholera are more likely to spread in warmer weather and recent heavy rains have washed piles of uncollected waste into water sources.
The cholera outbreak in Yemen was announced by Yemen's Ministry of Public Health and Population on October 6, 2016. WHO estimates that 7.6 million people live in areas at high risk of cholera transmission.
Yemen, the impoverished Arab country in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has been involved in a civil war since two years ago.
The war pits Iranian-allied dominant Houthi movement, backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, against their foe of Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The war has killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, and displaced over 2 millions, according to humanitarian agencies.
