Ethiopia has diagnosed 525 people nationwide with cholera over the last few days, an Ethiopian official said on Tuesday.

Speaking to local journalists, Beyene Moges, Deputy Director, Ethiopia Public Health Institute said Ethiopia has detected a total of 525 cholera cases in Ethiopia's Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, and the capital city Addis Ababa.

Moges said the largest case of cholera patients was detected in Ethiopia's central Oromia regional state where 236 people were diagnosed with the disease out of which two people died subsequently.

Moges said in Ethiopia's northern Amhara regional state 198 people were diagnosed as suffering from cholera, out of which 14 died subsequently.

Moges also said alarmingly Addis Ababa, which has a population of at least five million people, recorded a total of 40 cholera patients.

He further said medical personnel are also giving training to local people on ways to avoid possible occurrence of cholera, as well as supplying medical supplies to treat future cases of cholera patients.

With the rainy season expected to start in mid-June and continue until mid-September, the Ethiopian government is bracing for an outbreak of cholera and is doing preparatory works to prevent the disease's occurrence.

Federal and regional health institutions have also been combating cholera outbreaks by treating unhygienic conditions in factories, health facilities, agricultural areas and restaurants.

Xinhua