WHO Says Cholera Cases in Yemen Rise as Fighting Intensifies

Yemen Has Reported 8,034 Suspected Cases and 27 Deaths This Year, with a Quarter of Them in the Past Four Weeks

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that suspected cholera cases in Yemen have tripled in the past three weeks as civilians flee renewed fighting and seek safety in unsanitary camps.

Escalating fighting, which has forced more than 200,000 people from their homes, has pushed suspected cases to 647 in the week of September 27 to October 3, from 217 in the week of September 6-12, the World Health Organization added in a report on Tuesday.

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"Families fleeing conflict now face another threat from preventable and treatable diseases," said Annette Heinzelman, the UN agency's emergency manager in the region.

"Without immediate funding and unfettered access to safe water, vaccinations and essential health services, disease outbreaks can spread rapidly among vulnerable communities."

Yemen has reported 8,034 suspected cases and 27 deaths this year, with a quarter of the suspected cases occurring in the past four weeks, World Health Watch said.

They reported that the five provinces hosting the largest number of displaced people in the southwest - Abin, Lahij, Al-Dalia, Taiz and Aden - accounted for 92 percent of the reported cases. This disease has also reached remote IDP camps in Hadhramout in the east of the country. Access to medical teams is very difficult.

As the conflict continues in Yemen, cholera has ebbed and flowed for years. In 2024, the WHO warned that the country faces the "highest burden" of cholera outbreaks in the world. In 2017, a wave of the disease infected hundreds of thousands of people and killed at least 2,000.

Yemen was already suffering one of the "worst humanitarian crises in the world" and has seen the situation escalate since the resumption of war between the Houthis - an armed group known as Ansarullah (Arabic for God's Supporters) - and Yemen's internationally recognized government.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection spread through food and water contaminated with Vibrio cholera bacteria, often through feces. It causes severe diarrhea, vomiting and muscle cramps.

When not treated with oral rehydration or antibiotics for more severe cases, this disease can be fatal.

The Geneva-based World Health Organization said it had received only $3.78 million of the $31 million needed for its 90-day emergency response in Yemen.

The funding is intended to help expand disease surveillance at displacement sites, deploy rapid response teams, strengthen cholera treatment, and improve infection prevention in health facilities and cholera treatment sites.