'I felt like death:' Cholera epidemic spreads misery in Yemen

One of the latest victims of the cholera epidemic that has killed more than 2,000 peoplein Yemen had yet to even take afirst breath.

Safaa Issa Kaheel, then nine months pregnant, was brought into a crowded clinic in the Western port city of Hodeidah by her husband, who had to borrow the travel fare from a neighbour.

"My stomach started hurting more and more," said Kaheel, 37, a hydrating drip hooked into her arm.

Once there, she was referred by nurse Hayam al-Shamaa for an ultrasound scan that showed the soon-to-be-born baby didn't survive due to dehydration among 15 to perish in the womb from cholera in September and October, according to doctors at the city's Thawra hospital.

"I felt like death," Kaheel said, her voice strained. "Thank God I survived the [delivery], but my diarrhea hasn't stopped."

1 million could be infected by year end

The Red Cross has warned that cholera, a diarrheal diseasethat has been eradicated in most developed countries, couldinfect a million people in Yemen by the end of the year.

Two and a half years of war have sapped Yemen of the money and medical facilities it needs to battle the contagion, to which aid agencies and medics say the poor, the starving, the pregnant and the young are most vulnerable.

The cholera ward is full of children some writhing in agony, others eerily still, andthe blanket over one boy too weak to move rises and falls with his shallow breathing.

Save the Children said in August that children under 15 represent nearly half of new cases and a third of deaths, with malnourished children more than six times more likely to die of cholera than well-fed ones.

'Cholera epidemic has become a norm'

Millions of Yemenis are struggling to find food and thebaking desert plains around Hodeidah are hotspots both of hungerand sickness.

Yemen's war pits the armed Houthi movement against theinternationally recognized government of President Abd-RabbuMansour Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition that haslaunched thousands of air strikes to restore him to power.

At least 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The country's health sector has been badly battered while a struggle over the central bank has left public sector salaries for doctors and sanitation workers unpaid.

Soumaya Beltifa, spokesperson for the Red Cross in Sanaa,warned that a lack of funds and health personnel were bluntingefforts to eradicate the disease, making it unlikely Yemen wouldbe healthy again soon.

"The cholera epidemic has become a norm, leading to complacency in dealing with the disease, not only by civilians but also from the various [aid] organizations," she warned.