By Destini M. Garrison, Radina P. Soebiyanto, Sarah Hutchinson, Assaf Anyamba and Tomoko Y. Steen
The Republic of Yemen has concurrently fallen victim to political and climatic disruptions causing the largest cholera epidemic. Recent conditions in Yemen provide a perfect paradigm of how conflict and climate magnify public health system insecurities, generating infectious disease outbreaks, like Vibrio cholerae. Population resistance to such infections depends on cooked foods, clean-water, and a proficient health infrastructure. This paper highlights the relationship between epidemic cholera, Yemeni civil war and climate fluctuations. Using publicly available data for cholera activity, migration, and rainfall variability we examine Yemen’s crisis. The research findings implicate conflict induced migration and the Civil war interfered with public health infrastructure; and extreme rainfall attributed to cholera amplification. Reflecting on the health catastrophe, authors promote diplomacy to mitigate health infrastructure degradation in Yemen.