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Reuters
SANAA
Yemen's cholera outbreak is so widespread that just drinking water can lead to death.
Nearly 2,000 people have already succumbed to one of the worst recorded outbreaks of cholera in modern history, with over 400,000 having contracted the disease, according to the World Health Organization.
Cholera, a diarrhoeal disease spread by ingestion of food or water tainted with human faeces, can kill within hours if untreated. It has been largely eradicated in developed countries equipped with sanitation systems and water treatment. But Yemen's devastating civil war, pitting a Saudi-led military coalition against the armed Houthi group, and economic collapse has made it extremely difficult to deal with catastrophes such as cholera and mass hunger.
With stinking green watery filth mingled with trash being a common sight in the capital Sanaa, the government is struggling to control the spread of the disease.
Pumps to sanitize the water supply sit idle for lack of fuel, while maintenance agencies tasked with chlorinating aquifers go without salaries and supplies.
