Yemen’s cholera outbreak is set to hit 4,00,000 cases on Tuesday but there are signs the three-month-old epidemic is slowing, according to World Health Organization data analysed by Reuters.

A dramatic fall over the past month in the number of deaths — from about 30 to single figures — suggests the WHO’s strategy of setting up a network of rehydration points to catch patients early is working.

Cholera, which is spread by ingestion of food or water contaminated by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, can kill within hours if untreated. The deaths figures indicate that 99.5% of patients now survive in Yemen, where a devastating civil war and economic collapse has left millions on the brink of starvation.