Yemen official: Cholera has killed 746 in war-torn country

SANAA – A Yemeni health official says more than 96,000 people have been infected with cholera in an outbreak that has caused at least 746 deaths since late April.

Nasser al-Argaly, health undersecretary in the rebel-run government in Sanaa, on Thursday blamed the outbreak on the two-year-old Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels. The fighting has damaged infrastructure and caused shortages of medicine.

Yemeni medical officials say an aid flight from the United Arab Emirates carrying 50 tons of cholera treatments arrived in the southern city of Aden, which is controlled by government forces. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media. The UAE is part of the Saudi-led coalition.

The U.N. said earlier this month that 70,000 cholera cases have been reported in 19 of Yemen’s 22 governorates.