Cholera in Yemen declining since peak last year, but outbreak still a risk, UNICEF says

(Devex) – The rainy season has arrived in Yemen, but has not yet brought an uptick of cholera cases with it, according to a top in-country official with the United Nations Children’s Fund. Still, UNICEF and other aid agencies remain concerned that there could be another serious outbreak in the coming months, as the rainy season progresses and health, water, and sanitation systems continue to deteriorate. “What is important to note is there is a continued collapse of the health and water and sanitation systems, which we believe will contribute to increasing the risk of having another outbreak this year,” Sherin Varkey, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Yemen, told Devex in a phone interview. “We know that [in Yemen] about 54 percent … of the health facilities are nonfunctional. So the factors are there which are really conducive to an outbreak of cholera.”

Link