CAIRO — The World Health Organization says a diphtheria outbreak in war-torn Yemen has spread rapidly nationwide and infected more than 1,300 people. Diphtheria, first reported in Yemen in October last year, is a contagious and potentially fatal disease that primarily infects the throat and airways. WHO said Friday a vaccination campaign targeting 2.7 million Yemeni children has been completed in 11 governorates. Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war pitting a Saudi-led coalition backing an internationally recognized government against Iran-backed Shiite rebels since March 2015. The near three-year stalemated war has damaged Yemen’s infrastructure, crippled the health system and pushed it to the brink of famine.

Source: National Post March 17, 2018 09:45 UTC