ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Ethiopia has diagnosed 871 people with cholera – an acute infectious diarrhoeal disease, an official said on Tuesday.

“So far, 871 people have been diagnosed with cholera in different areas,” the local broadcaster FANA stated, quoting the Director General of Ethiopian Public Health Institute Getachew Tolera.

The cholera cases have spread in Oromia, Amhara, TIgray, Somali and Afar provinces, as well as in two major cities of the country.

The disease has so far caused deaths of 17 persons, FANA quoted Getachew as saying.

The majority of cases have been reported from Oromia province, with 350 people diagnosed with the infectious disease.

As many as 202 people have contracted it in Amhara, 19 in Tigray, 131 in Afar and 33 in Somali regions.

Some 125 persons have been diagnosed with the disease in the capital Addis Ababa and one in Dire Dawa city in Eastern Ethiopia.

In a bid to control further spread of the disease, 26 quarantine centers have been set up, across the nation.

Getachew said medicines are being made available to the affected areas.

Atleast 291,000 people have been vaccinated in the West Harerghe zone of Oromia province, according to the local broadcaster.