Diphtheria claims 48 lives in Yemen within 60 days: WHO

Diphtheria has claimed lives of at least 48 people within the last two months across Yemen amid the ongoing Saudi military aggression and blockade of the impoverished Arab country.

Diphtheria has claimed lives of at least 48 people within the last two months across Yemen amid the ongoing Saudi military aggression and blockade of the impoverished Arab country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report on Thursday that diphtheria-related deaths had been recorded in 19 of Yemen’s 23 provinces.

Another 610 suspected cases of diphtheria have been reported across the country, it added.

Almost 100 districts in Yemen have reported at least one diphtheria case with a heavy concentration in the province of Ibb, which reported approximately 50 percent of the total infections across the country.

The outbreak of diphtheria, a bacterial disease, coincides with a deadly cholera epidemic that began last April.

According to figures released earlier by the WHO, cholera has claimed more than 2,200 lives in all but one province of Yemen.