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Yemen Cholera Death Toll Mounts to 209 | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A Yemeni child suspected of being infected with cholera receives treatment at a hospital in Sana’a on May 6, 2017. Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP


Taiz- The United Nations children’s agency has said that a cholera outbreak in Yemen has killed 209 people in recent weeks with 17,200 suspected cases across the country.

UNICEF’s announcement on Wednesday came two days after the International Committee of the Red Cross said that 184 people had died of the disease since April 27.

UNICEF’s Yemen mission said that there had been an “alarming increase” in cholera-related deaths.

The agency’s Yemen spokesman Mohammed Al-Asaadi told Agence France Presse (AFP) that 3,000 new suspected cholera cases a day were being reported.

In Taiz, the general health bureau announced that 20 people had died from cholera.

An official at the bureau, Dr. Ilan Abdul Haq, warned that the number could rise. If it was confirmed that more than 30 people had been infected, then Taiz could be announced as a cholera-stricken city.

She urged the government and international organizations for a swift delivery of medication and sterile equipment amid a scarcity in medical supplies to confront the cholera outbreak.

Insurgents in the capital San’aa, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis, this week declared a state of emergency over the outbreak.

But the legitimate government’s health ministry said that the alleged announcement has been made by an illegitimate authority, stressing that the government was carrying out its duties in confronting the pandemic in all provinces.

The ministry statement accused the insurgents of causing an unhealthy environment, which leads to deadly infections and diseases, resulting in their spread across the country.