19 December 2017 - The Ministry of Public Health and Population of Yemen has reported a cumulative total of 983 484 suspected cases of cholera including 2225 associated deaths since the second wave of the outbreak in April 2017.
The overall case-fatality rate remains low (0.23%). Reported cases are showing a downwards trend as the number of new cases and deaths are much lower than previous weeks. Among the 305 affected districts, 44 districts in three governorates (Al Mahrah, Mokalla, Seyoun) have not reported any suspected cases for the last 2 consecutive weeks.
The surge of cholera can be attributed to ongoing conflict which has destroyed health, water and sanitation infrastructure, and increasing malnutrition which has raised the vulnerability of populations to endemic infectious diseases, including cholera.
WHO and health partners continue to support the Ministry through the cholera task force to improve cholera response efforts at the national and local levels. This includes technical and logistic support, training of health workers to manage cases, water purification in communities and deployment of rapid response team to manage cholera cases investigations and respond to the outbreak, and enhancement of Yemen’s disease early warning surveillance systems.
