Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Diarrhoea outbreak kills 20 in Ethiopia : UN

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — An outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea has killed 20 people out of more than 600 cases in Ethiopia in one month, the UN said on Tuesday.

"A total of 649 cases and 20 deaths of acute watery diarrhoea were reported ... between 13 April and 17 May 2009," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

Citing ministry of health records, OCHA said the outbreak was confined to areas in the south, southeast and northeastern parts of the country.

UN agencies have supplied adequate water treatment chemicals to cater for over 85,000 people in the month.

The highly contagious disease killed more than 870 people out of some 76,000 cases around the same period in 2007.

It is common among people with suppressed immunity. In severe cases and when accompanied by vomiting it can lead to light-headedness, weakness, confusion, kidney failure and possibly death.

No comments:

Post a Comment