Biological Hazard – Fatal Vibrio cholerae Outbreak/Epidemic (Update) 2017/10/18: Yemen

Yemen cholera outbreak closes in on 850,000 cases

Since the cholera outbreak began in October 2010, months after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, 800,665 cases have been reported, including 9,480 deaths. This was the most recent data I reported on concerning the Haiti situation back in May.

Since Apr. 27, 2017 through Oct. 17, 2017, Yemen has seen 845,912 cases and 2170 deaths, in less than six months. While it appears to have slowed somewhat, that’s still 63,370 cases and 31 deaths since the beginning of the month.

The outbreak has quickly surpassed Haiti as the biggest since modern records began in 1949.

Experts believe it will reach a million cases by years end, including at least 600,000 cases in children.

“Cholera has been around in Yemen for a long time, but we’ve never seen an outbreak of this scale or speed. It’s what you get when a country is brought to its knees by conflict, when a healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, when its children are starving, and when its people are blocked from getting the medical treatment they need,” said Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children’s Country Director for Yemen.

“There’s no doubt this is a man-made crisis. Cholera only rears its head when there’s a complete and total breakdown in sanitation. All parties to the conflict must take responsibility for the health emergency we find ourselves in.”

Recent research by Save the Children found that there are more than one million acutely malnourished children under the age of five living in areas where cholera infection levels are high. Children with acute malnutrition are at least three times more likely to die from diarrheal diseases like cholera.

Diarrheal diseases like cholera are also themselves a leading cause of malnutrition – raising fears that even if children survive the outbreak they could be pushed further toward starvation.

“It’s simply unacceptable that children are trapped in a brutal cycle of starvation and sickness. We are dealing with a horrific scenario of babies and young children who are not only malnourished but also infected with cholera,” Kirolos added.

“The tragedy is both malnutrition and cholera are easily treatable if you have access to basic healthcare. But hospitals have been destroyed, 30,000 public sector health workers haven’t been paid for almost a year, and the delivery of vital aid is being obstructed. The world must act now to prevent more children from dying from an entirely preventable illness.”

18 October 2017
Outbreak News Today (edited)

---

See Also

CHOLERA, DIARRHEA AND DYSENTERY UPDATE (83): ASIA (YEMEN)
*************
Published Date: 2017-08-14 11:38:34
Subject: PRO/EDR> Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update (83): Asia (Yemen)
Archive Number: 20170814.5248768

Date: Sun 13 Aug 2017
Source: Outbreak News Today [edited]

In a follow-up on the cholera epidemic in Yemen, health officials put the number of cases near a half million in less than 4 months, according to the WHO country office in Yemen.

More than 494 000 suspected cholera cases and 1966 associated deaths have been reported in 22 governorates and 298 districts in Yemen since 27 Apr 2017.

—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Although a number of sources had reported decreasing numbers of daily cases, the new numbers seem to support the continuing robust number of daily cases. If the epidemic were to continue at the current rate of cases per day, by the end of 2017, there could be 700 000 more cases for a total of 1.12 million cases since the end of April 2017, with 3300 more deaths for a total of about 5500 deaths over that period.]

The statistics related to this record-breaking epidemic of _V. cholerae_ in Yemen are shown below:

Date (2017) / Cases / Deaths
8 May / 1360 / 25
11 May / 2752 / 51
13 May / 8595 / 115
14 May / 11 000 / 180
17 May / 17 200 / 209
19 May / 23 500 / 242
21 May / 29 300 / 315
22 May / 35 217 / 361
24 May / 42 207 / 420
27 May / 51 832 / 471
30 May / 65 300 / 532
2 Jun / 73 700 / 605
4 Jun / 86 400 / 676
5 Jun / 91 400 / 728
6 Jun / 96 000 / 746
7 Jun / 101 820 / 789
10 Jun / 116 700 / 869
12 Jun / 124 002 / 923
14 Jun / 140 116 / 989
16 Jun / 151 000 / 1054
19 Jun / 166 976 / 1146
21 Jun / 179 548 / 1205
23 Jun / 200 000 / 1310
26 Jun / 219 000 / 1400
28 Jun / 231 364 / 1439
30 Jun / 240 000 / 1500
4 Jul / 275 987 / 1634
7 Jul / 297 438 / 1706
10 Jul / 313 538 / 1732
13 Jul / 332 600 / 1759
17 Jul / 356 591 / 1802
20 Jul / 368 207 / 1828
25 Jul / 402 484 / 1880
26 Jul / 408 583 / 1885
29 Jul / 419 804 / 1912
7 Aug / 463 000 / 1940
13 Aug / 494 000 / 1966

In the last complete year of data (2015; http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/250142/1/WER9138.pdf), WHO reported a total of 172 454 cases worldwide in 42 countries. This continuing cholera disaster in Yemen is only 12 weeks old and now has more than twice the total number of cases of 2015 and more than the peak year of the Haiti outbreak (2011) of 340 311 cases. – Mod.LL

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/promed/p/126.]

Source:
A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases

---

Note:

Rotavirus is a contagious virus that can cause gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines). Symptoms include severe watery diarrhea, often with vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. Infants and young children are most likely to get rotavirus disease. They can become severely dehydrated and need to be hospitalized and can even die.

Vibrio cholerae, and Cryptosporidium parvum are several water safety threats classified as potential Category B bioterrorism pathogens that can cause Rotavirus symptoms. These are the second highest priority organisms/biological agents.

Pathogenic organisms and toxins such as these may persist in food and water supplies. Humans are also a source of infection.

Food or waterborne pathogens that may be used as bioterrorism agents:
Salmonella species
Shigella dysenteria
Escherichia coli 0157:H7
Giardia lamblia
Vibrio cholerae
Cryptosporidum species
Campylobacter species