21 July 2019 - The Ministry of Public Health and Population of Yemen reported 19,459 suspected cases of cholera with 11 associated deaths during epidemiological week 29 (15 to 21 July) of 2019. Ten percent of cases were severe. The cumulative total number of suspected cholera cases from 1 January 2018 to 21 July 2019 is 885,982, with 1259 associated deaths (CFR 0.14%). Children under five represent 24.2 % of total suspected cases during 2019. The outbreak has affected 22 of 23 governorates and 301 of 333 districts in Yemen.
From week 8 in 2019, the trend of weekly reported suspected cholera cases started increasing and reached to more than 29500 cases in week 14. These were the maximum number of cases reported so far. The trend of suspected cases has been fluctuated over the past weeks. Starting from week 23, the number of cases increased with the start of rain season. However, since week 27, less cases were reported every week.
The governorates reporting the highest number of suspected cases of cholera during 2019 were Amanat Al Asimah (76408), Sana’a (62598), Al Hudaydah (61746) , Hajjah (49152), Ibb (46184), Dhamar (45181) and Arman (35952).
Of a total 82827 samples tested since January 2019, out of these total 4018 have been confirmed as cholera-positive by culture at the central public health laboratories. During this reporting period the governorates reported highest number of positive culture were; 1098 from Taizz; 1095 from Amanat Al Asimah, and 409 were positive from Sana’a.
WHO continues to provide leadership and support for activities with health authorities and partners to respond to this ongoing cholera outbreak, including case management, surveillance and laboratory investigations, hotspot mapping and OCV campaign planning, water sanitation, hygiene (WaSH) and risk communication.
