The Guideline on Cholera Outbreak Management in Ethiopia published by Ethiopian Public Health Institute [EPHI; former Ethiopia Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI)] states cholera as a mandatory notifiable disease. All suspected cholera cases need to be reported upon identification. Suspected case is defined as any person 5 years of age or more with profuse AWD and vomiting. Confirmed case of cholera, defined as suspected case with V. cholerae O1 or O139 isolated from stool, is sufficient for an outbreak to be declared More specifically, cholera outbreak declarations are made: in cholera epidemic areas, when a patient aged 5 years or more who develops AWD, with or without vomiting is detected; and in an area where cholera is not known to be present, when a patient aged 5 years or more who develops severe dehydration or dies from AWD is detected. This implies the importance of existing public health disease surveillance system and reporting capacity. Cholera case detection and outbreak declaration is also closely associated with the healthcare seeking behaviour of local populations and cholera rapid diagnostics and laboratory confirmation ability. In Ethiopia, there are 16 public health laboratories nation-wide; EPHI National Reference Laboratory located in Addis Ababa, Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) laboratory in Addis Ababa for handling medical research samples, and 14 Regional Laboratories across the country (Table 1).