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This is the VOA Special English Health Report. United Nations aid agencies say hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes because of violence in the Middle East and Africa. Now they are living in poor conditions in refugee camps. The agencies say serious problems with food and water are causing life-threatening diseases that spread in the camps. Health officials say cholera, malaria, jaundice and malnutrition -- are threatening refugees who had hoped to be safe when they fled to the camps. There are thousands of people at one camp in South Sudan. They fled there to escape the military conflict in the area. Camp officials say there has been a big increase in hepatitis E: a viral disease spread through bad food and water. U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says most of those infected are young people. ADRIAN EDWARDS: "Hepatitis E hits young people between the ages of fifteen and forty hardest. In the three camps where we see refugees with acute jaundice syndrome, more than half are between twenty and thirty-nine." Many camps in countries like South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Libya, and Nigeria have reported severe cholera outbreaks. Officials say keeping cholera and jaundice from spreading is very difficult. They believe the best way to deal with these infections is to prevent them. Dr. Peter Hotez is an infectious disease expert. He says cholera can push people to the edge of death quickly. | 
