Cholera death toll in Yemen reaches at least 180, Red Cross says

Cholera has killed at least180 people in Yemen in recent weeks, the International Committeeof the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday, a day after authoritiesdeclared a state of emergency in the capital Sanaa and calledfor international help.

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Sanaa is controlled by the armed Houthi movement, which isaligned with Iran and fighting a Western-backed, Saudi-ledcoalition. More than 10,000 people have been killed and millionsdisplaced in more than two years of war, which has alsodestroyed much of the country's infrastructure.

Only a few medical facilities are still functioning andtwo-thirds of the population are without access to safe drinkingwater, the United Nations has said.

Dominik Stillhart of the ICRC told reporters in the portcity of Aden that at least 180 people had died from the acutediarrheal disease since April 27, and that 11,000 moresuspected cholera cases had been reported across theimpoverished country.

Avert 'unprecedented disaster'

Houthi authorities have said 115 of those who have died werein the city of Sanaa and its province.

"What is happening today exceeds the capabilities of anyhealthy health system, so how can we [cope]when we are in thesedifficult and complicated conditions," Saba news agency quotedthe Houthi-run administration's health minister Mohammed Salembin Hafeedh as saying.

The ministry, after meeting in Sanaa with U.N. HumanitarianCoordinator Jamie McGoldrick and other international officials,called on humanitarian organisations and aid donors to help itavert an "unprecedented disaster."

It declared a "state of health emergency in the capital,"the agency said.

Saba said 8,595 suspected cholera cases were recorded inSanaa and other Yemeni provinces between April 27 and May 13,while laboratory-confirmed cases were 213. The disease can befatal within hours if left untreated.

The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier put the deathtoll at 51. It has also said that 7.6 million people in Yemenlive in areas at high risk of cholera transmission.

A cholera epidemic late last year petered out but outbreaksare becoming more frequent.

Sanaa has been worst hit, followed by the surroundingprovince of Amanat al-Semah, WHO data has shown. Cases have alsobeen reported in other major cities including Hodeidah, Taiz andAden.