ETHIOPIA: Watery diarrhoea spreads, death toll up to 125

ADDIS ABABA, 4 September 2006 (IRIN) - The death toll from an outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea in Ethiopia has risen to 125, the country's health ministry reported. The spread of the disease had been exacerbated by massive flooding last month, it added.

An estimated 15,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea had been reported in Ethiopia since April, the ministry of health said in an update on Friday. The worst affected regions were Oromia and the Southern Nation and Nationalities Peoples’ Regional states (SNNPR) in the south of the country, where most of the flooding occurred and where contaminated river water was putting more people at risk of disease.

"The majority of the people who do not have access to clean water and sanitation are the ones who are currently affected by the outbreak," the ministry's statement said.

The illness was first reported in Gambella region in April. In June, cases were reported in Oromiya and later in the SNNPR, and in the capital, Addis Ababa.

A joint assessment team comprising representatives from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN World Health Organization, the UN Children's Fund and the Ethiopian government visited some of the affected areas in early August and said the disease was spreading fast and called for increased community awareness to promote hygiene and sanitation, the provision of more medical supplies and water treatment systems.

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