300,000 infected in Cholera in Yemen: ICRC

Cholera disease has infected more than 300,000 people in war-torn Yemen since late April, the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday.

"Yemen, Cholera: Disturbing. We're at 300k+ suspected cases with ~7k new cases/day. 4 most affected areas: Sanaa, Hodeida, Hajjah and Amran," ICRC regional director Robert Mardini tweeted.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) on its official twitter put the epidemic suspected cases at 297,438 people and the death toll from the disease at 1,706 until July 9.

The disease cases were reported from 22 provinces out of 23 since April 27, said WHO.

Since April 27, the cholera cases in Yemen have been "increasing at an average of 5,000 a day," WHO said in its last week report. "We are now facing the worst cholera outbreak in the world."

More than three years into war, Yemen is facing a total collapse, where two thirds of the total population, around 19 million, need humanitarian aid. About 10.3 million people are at risk of famine and 14.5 million lack access to safe drinking water.

Fewer than 45 percent of the country's hospitals are operational, but even the operational ones are coping with huge challenges, especially the lack of medications, medical equipment and staff.

The blockade on Yemen, as part of a Saudi-led bombing campaign launched in March 2015, has deepened the crisis in the country which used to import most of its basic needs.

The war has pit the Shiite Houthi rebel movement against a Sunni Saudi-led military coalition, after Houthis toppled Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government in late 2014.