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WHO: More than 1,300 now dead in Yemen's cholera epidemic

By Sam Howard
A cholera-infected Yemeni receives treatment at a hospital amid a serious cholera outbreak in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday. The World Health Organization said Saturday that the country now has more than 200,000 suspected cases of cholera. Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA
A cholera-infected Yemeni receives treatment at a hospital amid a serious cholera outbreak in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday. The World Health Organization said Saturday that the country now has more than 200,000 suspected cases of cholera. Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA

June 24 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization has announced the cholera outbreak in Yemen has now killed more than 1,300 people.

The U.N. agency tweeted from its Yemeni Twitter account Saturday that the epidemic has claimed 1,310 associated deaths -- from a total of more than 200,000 suspected cases.

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The number of suspected cholera cases has roughly doubled since early June. The U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, told Voice of America that number could pass 300,000 before September.

Two years of fighting between government forces and the rebel Houthi movement have compounded the health crisis in Yemen. Despite the dilapidation of local infrastructure, UNICEF representative Meritxell Relano said aide groups are reducing the number of cases in some regions of the country.

Part of that treatment, Relano said, has consisted of going door-to-door to teach families safe hygiene practices and chlorinate water tanks.

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