ICRC: Yemen cholera cases could reach 1 million by 2017 end

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned against the spread of cholera in Yemen, saying the number of those infected with the disease could hit one million by the end of 2017.

According to Press TV, at a news briefing in Geneva on Friday, Alexandre Faite, the head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen, said the situation caused by the cholera outbreak in the war-torn Arab country is a “catastrophe.”

“We could be to one million (cases) by the end of the year,” he added.

So far, 2,119 people have died of the epidemic, which emerged earlier this year amid the ongoing Saudi-led military campaign against the Arabian Peninsula state. The ICRC says there are currently at least 750,000 cases of cholera in Yemen.

The United Nations said in June that Yemen was facing the “world’s worst cholera outbreak.”

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection that is spread through contaminated food or water. It can be effectively treated with the immediate replacement of lost fluids and salts, but without treatment it can be fatal.

Faite further called for the reopening of the International Airport in the capital Sana’a to commercial flights for aid supplies.

SS