Acute watery diarrhoea in Ethiopia.

21 Sep, 2006

As of mid September, nearly 16,900 cases of acute watery diarrhoea had been reported in Ethiopia and 129 people were known to have died, the health ministry has said. The worst affected areas were Oromiya and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples regions in the south, Amhara and Tigray in the north, and Addis Ababa, where 21 cases, including one death, have been reported since mid-August. While the ministry says the number of infections are decreasing in some parts of the country, a new outbreak in the southwestern Bale district suggests that the disease is not yet under control. Consequently the authorities have announced that they will be stepping up efforts to inform people about how to prevent the spread of the bacterial disease, which is largely attributed to unclean water and poor sanitation.