Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: July 3 (Ethiopian Informer) –Some 817 people have been recently diagnosed with Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) amid an outbreak of the deadly disease in different parts of the country, an Ethiopian government official disclosed on Wednesday.
Getachew Tolera, Deputy Director of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), told reporters on Wednesday that Ethiopia has detected a total of 871 AWD cases in Ethiopia’s Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, Somali and Afar regional states as well as in Dire Dawa city council and the capital Addis Ababa.
Tolera also said that said the largest cases of AWD were detected in Oromia, accounting for some 360 AWD cases, followed by Amhara at 202 AWD cases, and Afar at 131 cases respectively.
Tolera also noted that Addis Ababa, which has a population of at least five million people, has “alarmingly” recorded a total of 125 cholera cases.
He further disclosed that medical personnel are currently giving training to local people on ways to avoid possible occurrence of cholera, as well as supplying medical supplies to treat future cases of cholera patients.
With the rainy season expected to start in mid-June and continue until mid-September, the Ethiopian government is bracing for an outbreak of cholera and is doing preparatory works to prevent the disease’s occurrence.
Federal and regional health institutions have also been combating cholera outbreaks by treating unhygienic conditions in factories, health facilities, agricultural areas
