Cholera cases surge in Yemen as conflict intensifies, WHO says

Yemen has reported 8,034 suspected cases and 27 deaths this year, with a quarter of cases from the last four weeks.

A displaced Yemeni woman sits beside mattresses distributed at the Al-Fallahine displacement camp in Dar Saad district, Aden, Yemen, Monday, October 12, 2026 [Abdulnasser Alseddik/AP]

Suspected cholera cases in Yemen have tripled in the past three weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, as civilians have fled renewed fighting and sought safety in unsanitary camps.

Ramped up combat, which has pushed more than 200,000 people to flee their homes, the WHO added in a report on Tuesday, driving suspected cases from 217 in the week of September 6-12 to 647 in the week of September 27 to October 3.

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“Families fleeing conflict are now facing another threat from diseases that can be prevented and treated,” said Annette Heinzelmann, the UN agency’s emergency director for the region.

“Without urgent funding and unimpeded access to safe water, vaccination and essential health services, outbreaks could spread rapidly among already vulnerable communities.”

This year, the global health watchdog said, Yemen had reported 8,034 suspected cases and 27 deaths, with a quarter of the suspected cases occurring in the last four weeks.

Five governorates hosting large numbers of displaced people in the southwest – Abyan, Lahij, al-Dhalea, Taiz and Aden – account for 92 percent of reported cases, they reported. The disease has also reached remote displacement camps in Hadramout in the country’s east that are particularly difficult for medical teams to access.

Displaced Yemenis wait to receive medical treatment provided by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) at the al-Kod al-Othmani displacement camp in Aden, Yemen, Thursday, October 8, 2026 [Abdulnasser Alseddik/AP]

Emergency response underfunded

Cholera has ebbed and flowed for years as the conflict in Yemen has continued. In 2024, the WHO warned that the country was facing the “highest burden” of a global cholera outbreak. In 2017, a wave of the disease infected hundreds of thousands and killed at least 2,000.

Yemen was already suffering one of the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis ” and has seen an escalation of circumstances since fighting reignited between the Houthis – an armed group known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), and the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, often from faeces. It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps.

Contracting the illness can be deadly when not treated with oral rehydration or antibiotics for more severe cases.

The Geneva-based WHO said it had only secured $3.78m of the $31m needed for its 90-day emergency response in Yemen.

The funding is intended to help expand disease surveillance in displacement sites, deploy rapid response teams, strengthen cholera treatment and improve infection prevention in health facilities and cholera treatment sites.

也门今年报告了 8034 例疑似病例和 27 例死亡，其中四分之一的病例发生在过去四周。

2026年10月12日星期一，一名流离失所的也门妇女坐在也门亚丁达尔萨阿德区法拉欣流离失所者营地分发的床垫旁。[Abdulnasser Alseddik/AP]

世界卫生组织（世卫组织）警告称，也门疑似霍乱病例在过去三周内增加了两倍，原因是平民逃离再次爆发的战乱，并在卫生条件恶劣的难民营中寻求安全。

世界卫生组织周二在一份报告中补充说，加强抗疫行动已迫使超过 20 万人逃离家园，导致疑似病例从 9 月 6 日至 12 日这一周的 217 例增加到 9 月 27 日至 10 月 3 日这一周的 647 例。

列表 1/3：从吉布提前往也门的移民船倾覆，至少 139 人死亡

列表 2/3 也门局势升级是一个转折点

也门三户家庭寻找失踪亲人的努力因新的冲突而受阻，名单如下：

“逃离冲突的家庭现在又面临着另一种威胁，那就是一些本可以预防和治疗的疾病，”联合国机构该区域紧急事务主任安妮特·海因策尔曼说。

“如果没有紧急资金支持，以及畅通无阻地获得安全饮用水、疫苗接种和基本医疗服务，疫情可能会在本已脆弱的社区中迅速蔓延。”

全球卫生监督机构表示，今年也门报告了 8034 例疑似病例和 27 例死亡，其中四分之一的疑似病例发生在过去四周。

据报道，西南部五个收容大量流离失所者的省份——阿比扬省、拉赫季省、达利阿省、塔伊兹省和亚丁省——占报告病例总数的92%。该疾病也已蔓延至该国东部哈德拉毛省偏远的流离失所者营地，这些营地医疗队难以进入。

2026年10月8日，星期四，在也门亚丁的奥斯曼尼难民营，流离失所的也门人等待接受无国界医生组织提供的医疗救治。[Abdulnasser Alseddik/AP]

应急响应资金不足

多年来，随着也门冲突的持续，霍乱疫情也时有发生。2024年，世界卫生组织警告称，也门正面临全球霍乱疫情“最严重的负担”。2017年，一场霍乱疫情席卷也门，感染了数十万人，并造成至少2000人死亡。

也门已经遭受了“世界上最严重的人道主义危机之一”，自胡塞武装（又称安萨尔真主，阿拉伯语意为“真主的支持者”）与国际公认的也门政府之间重新爆发冲突以来，局势进一步恶化。

霍乱是一种急性肠道感染，通过被霍乱弧菌污染的食物和水传播，通常通过粪便传播。它会导致严重的腹泻、呕吐和肌肉痉挛。

感染这种疾病如果不及时进行口服补液治疗，或者对于更严重的病例使用抗生素治疗，可能会致命。

总部位于日内瓦的世界卫生组织表示，其在也门开展为期 90 天的紧急救援行动所需的 3100 万美元资金，目前仅筹集到 378 万美元。

该笔资金旨在帮助扩大流离失所者安置点的疾病监测，部署快速反应小组，加强霍乱治疗，并改善卫生设施和霍乱治疗点的感染预防。