Geneva - A "race" is under way to contain the cholera epidemic in Yemen where 20 out of 22 governorates are affected, United Nations agencies said today. The disease is endemic in Yemen and is characterized by severe watery diarrhoea and fever. Nearly 1,200 people have died in the latest outbreak and there are more than 172,000 suspected cases in the crisis-torn country, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Together with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), WHO says it is attempting to stop cholera being "exported" from the worst-affected areas. In Raymah in western Yemen, mortality rates are almost twice the national average. "We see that the numbers are going up, it's really trying to race against the spread and try to get treatment and water and sanitation measures to every corner, especially to those corners that are basically exporting the bacteria to other places" Tarik Jasarevic a spokesperson for WHO told reporters at the regular bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
