Yemen cholera epidemic hits over half a million with ‘sharp rises’ in new cases

Yemen’s cholera outbreak has infected 612,703 people and killed 2,048 since it began in April, and some districts are still reporting sharp rises in new cases. The overall spread of the epidemic has slowed in the past two months, with the daily number of new suspected cases cut to around 3,000 in recent days. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said some of the most affected areas, such as Sanaa City and the governorates of Hajjah and Amran, had seen falls in the numbers of new cases. But there had been a “sudden and significant increase” in the number of suspected cases reported from 12 districts, in the governorates of Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahwit, Ibb, Dhamar, Al Bayda and Aden. WHO is currently investigating the reason for this increase. The United Nations has said the epidemic is man-made, driven by a conflict that has left 15.7 million people without clean water or sanitation.