Yemen confirms 69 new cholera cases in capital

Last October, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 51 confirmed cases of cholera from nine governorates in Yemen, with more than 1,180 suspected cases. (Photo: OCHA/ Wikipedia)

SANAA– A total of 69 new cases of cholera were registered to a state-run hospital in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa over the past week, a hospital official has said.

Two of the laboratory confirmed cases have died, Nasr al-Kadasi, director of al-Jomuhory hospital, told Xinhua on Friday.

The new cholera cases were received by the hospital between April 28 and May 4, he added.

Last October, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 51 confirmed cases of cholera from nine governorates in Yemen, with more than 1,180 suspected cases.

Some 7.6 million Yemenis are living in affected areas in the conflict-ridden country, whose health system has collapsed due to a prolonged civil war, according to the WHO.

The impoverished Arab country in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, was plunged into a civil war two years ago, leaving more than 10,000 dead with half of them civilians, and over two million people displaced, according to humanitarian agencies.