Deressa, Wakgari (Prof.)Abagero, Abdulnasir (MPH, PhD fellow)Bekele, Daniel2021-06-132023-11-052021-06-132023-11-052021-01http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/26798Introduction: Cholera is a diarrheal infection caused by gram -negative bacteria Vibrio cholerae,either type O1 or O139. Globally in 2019, there were 923,037 cases and 1911 deaths of choler with case fatality rate of 0.2 and in Africa 55,087 of cases and 872 deaths with (CFR of 1.6). Since the beginning of 2017 and as of 7 May, Ethiopia has reported 32,689 acute watery diarrhea cases and 776 deaths with CFR 2.4%. Cholera could affect both Males and Females and remains a challenge to countries where access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation cannot be guaranteed. Cholera is usually transmitted through fecal contamination of water or food. We conducted cholera outbreak investigation, characterized cases by time, place, and persons and described the morbidity and mortality due cholera outbreak in West Arsi zone, Oromia region,Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: Descriptive study was carried out among 167 cholera patients’ line list from September 29 to November 30, 2019. We defined cases, selected study participants and conducted descriptive analysis. We analyzed data using Microsoft excel 2010, calculated and described frequency, percentage, mean and median, attack rate (AR) and cases fatality (CFR). Results: A total of 164 cases and 3 deaths with CFR 1.8% were identified from the line list. Female were 94 (56.3%) and the median age for case was 12 years with range of (1.0-85.0). Highest proportions of cases 58 (34.7%) were within 5-14 age group and list affected 24 (14.4%) >44 age groups. Age specific case fatality rate was highest in > 44 years. Highest cases were reported from Shashamane 112(67%) district. The outbreak started from 15 th August and lasted over 18 December, 2019. Of the total cases 122 (73%) were severely dehydrated. Conclusion: Cholera outbreak with relatively increased overall attack and case fatality rate was conformed. Females affected more than males and the highest proportion of affected age group was above fifteen years of age. We recommend prevention of future outbreak and implementation of response measures to reduce morbidity and mortality and prospecting future strategies to prevent cholera outbreak in the zone.en-USCholera outbreak, Descriptive epidemiology, West Arsi, OromiaThesis