For two years, Yemen has been facing a civil war between the Saudi government and Iran-backed rebels. The outbreak has spread due to the conditions in which half of the medical infrastructure has been affected.
„We are facing a serious cholera epidemic“said the director of operations of the Red Cross, Dominik Stillhart. The official also specified that over 8,500 cases of cholera have been identified in 14 provinces of the country.
It is the second cholera epidemic in Yemen in less than a year. The United Nations warns that up to 17 million people in Yemen are facing the specter of hunger.
Yemen’s health system is facing overcrowding, and critical sanitation infrastructure is helping to spread the disease as pathogens can more easily penetrate water sources and spread in hot weather and torrential rain.
Yemen is the scene of a bloody civil conflict between the internationally recognized government and the Houthi rebels who are backed by Iran. In addition, a number of terrorist groups are active in the country, including Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
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