Personal Injury Law

Americans Warned About Shigella, Salmonella, and Cholera As Ethiopia Fights Outbreak Of "Acute Watery Diarrhea"

We cannot find a copy of it, but apparently there was a Voice of America report that the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia warned Americans in the country of increased risks of diarrheal illnesses including Shigella, Salmonella, and Cholera.

Addis Ababa, one of the dirtiest cities in the world, is experiencing a severe outbreak of "Acute Watery Diarrhea" with one thousand cases being reported a day.   Hospitals are said to be erecting tents to handle all the patients showing up for treatment.  

According to the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs office:

AWD has spread to nine out of ten sub-cities in Addis Ababa and cases continue to increase in each region currently affected by the outbreak (Afar, Amhara, Oromiya, SNNPR and Somali). Humanitarian partners, including UNICEF and WHO, are particularly concerned by the increase in the number of woredas affected in a short period of time and are extremely worried that some people, particularly children, living in areas affected by the ongoing food crisis may be especially vulnerable to infection due to malnutrition.

As a result of the growing seriousness of the situation, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) has reportedly revised the projected requirements included in the forthcoming Humanitarian Requirements Document, which projects needs per sector for the period August to December, for the prevention, management and treatment of AWD cases.

The government and aide groups have now set up a "command center' to manage the crisis. The UN Humanitarian Bulletin is available for updates. 

Full post as published by Shigella Blog on September 01, 2009 (boomark / email).