Image copyright EPA Image caption No part of Yemen has been spared from the cholera outbreak, the UN says

Yemen is now facing the worst cholera outbreak anywhere in the world, the United Nations has warned.

A statement by Unicef and the World Health Organization says the number of suspected cholera cases in the war-torn country has exceeded 200,000.

So far more than 1,300 people have died - one quarter of them children - with the death toll expected to rise.

The two UN agencies say they are doing everything they can to stop the outbreak from accelerating.

"We are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world," the statement says.

"In just two months, cholera has spread to almost every governorate of this war-torn country," it says, with an estimated 5,000 new cases every day.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Children have been hit especially hard by the cholera outbreak

Image copyright EPA Image caption Hospitals have been overwhelmed by the number of people afflicted by cholera

Yemen's health, water and sanitation systems are collapsing after two years of war between government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the rebel Houthi movement.

The rebels control much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

Hospitals are overcrowded and severe food shortages have led to widespread malnutrition, making Yemenis - especially children - even more vulnerable to cholera.

The UN says it is deploying rapid-response teams to go house-to-house telling people how to protect themselves by cleaning and storing drinking water. But clean water is in short supply.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera.

Most of those infected will have no or mild symptoms but, in severe cases, the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.

The war has left 18.8 million of Yemen's 28 million people needing humanitarian assistance and almost seven million on the brink of famine.</s>The number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has now exceeded 200,000, the United Nations says.

The joint statement by Unicef and the World Health Organization said the country was now facing the worst cholera outbreak anywhere in the world.

The two UN agencies say they are doing everything they can to stop the outbreak from accelerating.

So far more than 1,300 people have died - one quarter of them children - with the death toll expected to rise.

"In just two months, cholera has spread to almost every governorate of this war-torn country," the statement says, with an estimated 5,000 new cases every day.

Yemen's health, water and sanitation systems are collapsing after two years of war between government forces and the rebel Houthi movement.

Hospitals are overcrowded and severe food shortages have led to widespread malnutrition, making Yemenis - especially children - even more vulnerable to cholera.
• How bad is the humanitarian crisis?
• Yemen crisis: Who is fighting whom?

The UN says it is deploying rapid-response teams to go house-to-house telling people how to protect themselves by cleaning and storing drinking water. But clean water is in short supply.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera.

Most of those infected will have no or mild symptoms but, in severe cases, the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.

The war has left 18.8 million of Yemen's 28 million people needing humanitarian assistance and almost seven million on the brink of famine.</s>UN: More than 200,000 suspected cholera cases in Yemen

BERLIN (AP) — The U.N. health agency says there are now more than 200,000 suspected cases of cholera in an outbreak in war-torn Yemen, many of them children.

UNICEF director Anthony Lake and World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said in a statement Saturday, "we are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world," with an average of 5,000 new cases every day. The agencies say that more than 1,300 people have died — one quarter of them children — and the death toll is expected to rise.

The U.N. says collapsing health, water and sanitation systems have cut off 14.5 million people from regular access to clean water and sanitation, increasing the ability of the disease to spread.

In addition, an estimated 30,000 local health workers have not been paid for nearly 10 months.</s>A cholera outbreak in war-ravaged Yemen could infect more than 300,000 people by the end of August, up from nearly 193,000 cases today, the United Nations said Friday.

"Probably at the end of August we will reach 300,000" cases, U.N. children's agency spokeswoman Meritxell Relano told reporters in Geneva during a conference call.

Since the outbreak was declared in April, an estimated 1,265 people have died, she said.

"The number of cases continue to increase," Relano said, adding that all of Yemen's 21 governorates have been affected.

She said that children had been hit hard by the outbreak, accounting for half of the registered cases to date.

But only a quarter of the people who have died so far were children, she said.

Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread through contaminated food or water.

Although the disease is easily treatable, doing so in conflict-torn Yemen has proved particularly difficult.

Two years of war between the Huthi rebels and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab military coalition have killed more than 8,000 people and wounded 45,000 others.

According to the U.N. human rights agency, civilians account for nearly 5,000 of the recorded deaths and more than 8,500 of the injuries.

The conflict has also devastated the country's infrastructure, leaving more than half of its medical facilities out of service.

Yemen is also on the brink of famine, with about 17 million people -- two-thirds of the population -- uncertain of where their next meal will come from, according to the U.N.'s World Food Program.

"This is the largest humanitarian crisis happening in the world at the moment," WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told reporters.

She said the agency was scaling up its response and aimed to provide food aid to 6.8 million people across the country this month alone.

But more than half of those people will receive reduced rations because of a dire funding shortage, she warned.</s>The U.N. health agency says there are now more than 200,000 suspected cases of cholera in an outbreak in war-torn Yemen, many of them children. UNICEF director Anthony Lake and World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said in a statement Saturday, "we are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world," with an average of 5,000 new cases every day.

Start the conversation, or Read more at WBEN-AM Buffalo.</s>UNITED NATIONS, June 25 (APP): Yemen is now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world, with suspected cases exceeding 200,000 and the

 number increasing at an average of 5,000 a day, the United Nations has warned.

 In a joint statement, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Anthony Lake and World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan said that in just two months, cholera has spread to almost every governorate of this war-torn country.

 Already more than 1,300 people have died, one quarter of them children, and the death toll is expected to rise.

 “UNICEF, WHO and our partners are racing to stop the acceleration of this deadly outbreak,” they said, also calling on authorities in Yemen to strengthen their internal efforts to stop the outbreak from spreading further.

 “This deadly cholera outbreak is the direct consequence of two years of heavy conflict,” the UN officials said, noting that collapsing health, water and sanitation systems have cut off 14.5 million people from regular access to clean water and sanitation, increasing the ability of the disease to spread.

 The UN officials also said that rising rates of malnutrition have weakened children’s health and made them more vulnerable to disease.

 An estimated 30,000 dedicated local health workers who play the largest role in ending this outbreak have not been paid their salaries for nearly

 10 months.

 “We urge all authorities inside the country to pay these salaries and, above all, we call on all parties to end this devastating conflict,” they said.</s>The United Nations has warned that by summer’s end, if the Saudi blockade of Yemen continues, the resulting man-made famine could put 300,000 Yemeni people at risk of cholera. This was conveyed in a statement by Meritxell Relano of the United Nations’ Children’s Agency.

Currently there are 193,000 known cases of the disease in Yemen with 1,265 reported. Many of these deaths are children.</s>WHO says more than 1,300 people have died and as many as 300,000 could become infected by the end of August.

Yemen is facing the "world's worst cholera outbreak", with about 1,310 people dying due to the disease since late April, according to the World Health Organization.

More than 200,000 suspected cases of cholera have been recorded in the Arabian Peninsula country and as many as 300,000 people could become infected by the end of August, Margaret Chan, WHO's director-general, said in a statement on Saturday.

"In just two months, cholera has spread to almost every governorate of this war-torn country," Chan and Anthony Lake, UNICEF executive director, said.

"Already more than 1,300 people have died - one quarter of them children - and the death toll is expected to rise."

READ MORE : WHO - Speed of Yemen cholera outbreak 'unprecedented'

Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread through contaminated food or water. It can be fatal within hours if left untreated.

Although the disease is easily treatable, doing so in Yemen, a country riven by conflict, has proved particularly difficult.

The UN has placed blame on all the rival sides and their international backers for the spread of cholera, which it calls a man-made humanitarian catastrophe.

"This is because of conflict, its man- made, its very severe, the numbers are absolutely staggering, its getting worse," Stephen O'Brien, a senior UN humanitarian affairs official, said.

"The cholera element in addition to all the lack of food, the lack of medical supplies is of course, primarily, one has to put that at the door of all parties to the conflict."

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allies launched an air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and backing Yemen's UN-recognised government.

Two years of conflict have killed more than 10,000 people, wounded 45,000 others, and displaced more than 11 percent of the country's 26 million people.

On Friday, the humanitarian group Oxfam called for a ceasefire because of the outbreak, but the war shows no sign of letting up.

At the Sabeen hospital in the capital, Sanaa, two to three new patients arrive every minute, with many suffering from cholera.

READ MORE: Yemen cholera crisis - Disease kills 'one person per hour'

The outbreak began last year, but a second wave of the waterborne disease has spread even quicker in the last two months.

"We are receiving many patients from all over the country, and some are in bad condition," Ismail Mansouri, a physician, said.

"We are facing many obstacles. We lack many medical equipment, rehydration solutions and medicine."

The hospital does not have enough doctors and nurses, Mansouri said.

Those who are there have been working around the clock to deal with the crisis.

Because of the war, many Yemenis face difficulties accessing clean water.

A large number of patients also have difficulty reaching the closest medical facility.

Some patients had to travel for hours just to reach the Sabeen hospital.

The UN children's agency UNICEF also called for all sides of the conflict to allow aid agencies better access to those in need.

"The number of cases is increasing at a staggering rate," Najwa Mekki, UNICEF spokesperson, told Al Jazeera.

"It's critical that aid agencies and others are able to reach these children as soon as possible to provide them with the aid they need."

Meanwhile, Saudi's ministry of culture and information announced on Saturday that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has donated $66.7m to the WHO and UNICEF to fight cholera in Yemen.</s>In Yemen, the United Nations warned Thursday an epidemic of cholera could reach 300,000 cases by the end of August. U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien said the spread of the often-deadly disease was entirely preventable.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Democracy Now.</s>UN's World Health Organization also warns that as many as 300,000 people could be infected by the end of August.

A cholera epidemic has killed some 1,310 people in war-torn Yemen since late April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, warning that as many as 300,000 could get infected by the end of August.

More than 200,000 suspected cases of cholera have been recorded in the country, WHO's Yemen office said in a statement on Saturday.

On Friday, the fatalities was estimated at 1,265, according to an earlier UN report.

READ MORE : WHO - Speed of Yemen cholera outbreak 'unprecedented'

The report said children account for half of the registered cases to date, and about a quarter of the recorded fatalities.

Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread through contaminated food or water. It can be fatal within hours if left untreated.

 

Although the disease is easily treatable, doing so in conflict-torn Yemen has proved particularly difficult.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen's embattled government.

Two years of conflict have killed more than 10,000 people, wounded 45,000 others, and displaced more than 11 percent of the country's 26 million people.

The UN has put the blame on all the warring sides and their international backers for the spread of cholera, which it calls a man-made humanitarian catastrophe.

"This is because of conflict, its man- made, its very severe, the numbers are absolutely staggering, its getting worse," Stephen O'Brien, a senior UN humanitarian affairs official, said.

"The cholera element in addition to all the lack of food, the lack of medical supplies is of course, primarily, one has to put that at the door of all parties to the conflict."

On Friday, the humanitarian group Oxfam called for a ceasefire because of the outbreak, but the war shows no sign of letting up.

At the Sabeen hospital in the capital, Sanaa, two to three new patients arrive every minute - with many suffering from cholera.

READ MORE: Yemen cholera crisis - Disease kills 'one person per hour'

The outbreak began last year, but a second wave of the waterborne disease has spread even quicker in the last two months.

"We are receiving many patients from all over the country, and some are in bad condition," physician Ismail Mansouri said.

"We are facing many obstacles. We lack many medical equipment, rehydration solutions and medicine."

The hospital does not have enough doctors and nurses, Mansouri said. Those who are there have been working around the clock to deal with the crisis.

Because of the war, many Yemenis face difficulties accessing clean water.

A large number of patients also have difficulty reaching the closest medical facility.

Some patients had to travel for hours just to reach the Sabeen hospital.

Meanwhile, Saudi's ministry of culture and information announced on Saturday that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has donated $66.7m to the WHO and UN's Children's Fund to fight cholera in Yemen.
The number of the cholera outbreak cases in Yemen passes 200,000, with over 1,300 deaths so far. There are an estimated 5,000 new cases every day.