A diarrhoea outbreak in Ethiopia has infected at least 15 000 people and killed 148, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that aid workers fear the epidemic, which has been stoked by heavy flooding, could spread even further.
Ethiopia’s southern region is particularly hard-hit, Byrs said.
”We are concerned that this epidemic could cross the border, contaminating the whole of the southern region of Ethiopia and Kenya,” she told journalists.
”This is a major worry because all efforts to halt it have so far been fruitless and the number of cases is rising.”
Lack of access to clean drinking water is a major factor in the spread of diarrhoea, as people turn to sources that are often highly contaminated by sewage.
Existing water supply and sanitation problems in Ethiopia have been compounded by some of the heaviest flooding in a generation.
While in many rich countries diarrhoea is often seen as little more than an annoyance, it can be deadly in the developing world, particularly when combined with other illnesses and hunger.
The disease can be fatal, particularly for young children, because it causes severe dehydration. — Sapa