NAIROBI, 25 October (IRIN) - Acute watery diarrhoea has continued to spread alarmingly in Ethiopia, with the death toll rising to 279 and 29,880 people infected, despite efforts by the government and humanitarian agencies to control the epidemic since April, the United Nations humanitarian agency said on Wednesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said government bureaus, UN agencies and NGOs had collaborated to support the training of approximately 60 health and water professionals from 12 districts, or 'woredas', in response to the epidemic and its "alarming spread" in the northern region of Amhara.

An assessment by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the eastern Afar region showed 84 new cases, with 11 deaths, according to OCHA. The UN agency said MSF-France would provide training for medical staff to handle acute watery diarrhoea, including case management, hygiene and sanitation and isolation procedures as well as surveillance, coordination and logistics.

"It is a huge country with limited resources; the hospitals have limited capacity and the vast border Ethiopia is sharing with Sudan might explain why the outbreak has still not been contained," an aid worker, who asked not to be named, told IRIN.

A cholera outbreak in southern Sudan earlier this year killed at least 200 people, while acute watery diarrhoea killed dozens of people in northern Sudan between March and June.

In September, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned that the outbreak in Ethiopia could become a full-scale cholera epidemic.

"Acute watery diarrhoea often leads to outbreaks of cholera if not treated immediately," the Federation and the Ethiopian Red Cross said when they appealed for funds to help to contain the outbreak.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health, which started carrying out laboratory tests in June, has not confirmed the epidemic as cholera.

Meanwhile, a meningitis outbreak in the Southern Nations Nationalities and People's Region has claimed the lives of 10 people in the past 10 days, according to OCHA, which quoted the Federal Ministry of Health as saying 596 suspected cases of meningitis had been reported.

"Last week, three samples were sent to Addis Ababa and only one tested positive for meningococcal meningitis. The Federal Ministry of Health has sent meningitis rapid diagnostic kits to 11 regions," according to OCHA.

Earlier this year, 621 cases of meningitis, among them 32 deaths, were reported in three regions in Ethiopia. In June the Health Ministry appealed for US$2.6 million for meningitis control.

Early symptoms of meningitis include fever, which is followed by a rash and vomiting. Patients suffer stiffness before unconsciousness and death. The meningitis bacteria are transmitted through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions.

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