The outbreak is growing rapidly, reports Doctors Without Borders, and warns that thousands of lives are at risk. So far, more than 1,500 cases have been registered in the region in western Ethiopia.
The situation is reported to have deteriorated since a large number of people have been forced to flee from neighboring South Sudan, which has recently been the scene of renewed clashes between rival groups. An ongoing cholera outbreak in South Sudan is now reported to have spilled over the border to Ethiopia along with the refugee flows.
Several regions in Ethiopia, which is Africa's second most populous country, are currently plagued by cholera outbreaks.
Cholera is a feared diarrheal disease caused by a bacterium. It spreads, among other things, through contaminated water and food.
