UN: Yemen faces world's worst cholera outbreak

070117_thinkstock_sanaa
070117_thinkstock_sanaa

iStock/Thinkstock

iStock/Thinkstock(SANAA, Yemen) — Yemen is facing the worst cholera outbreak in any part of the world, according to the United Nations.

More than 1,300 people — a quarter of them children — have died from the disease. The number of suspected cholera cases has surpassed 200,000, according to a statement by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.  

“We are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world,” the statement reads. “In just two months, cholera has spread to almost every governorate of this war-torn country.”  

There are an estimated 5,000 new cases every day.

Yemen’s health, water and sanitation infrastructure is “collapsing after two years of war between government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the rebel Houthi movement,” according to the BBC.

The rebels control much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

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