Albay watched for cholera

LEGAZPI CITY—Health authorities in Albay have placed the province under close watch for cholera after three persons died early this month due to the food-and-water-borne disease.

Dr. Luis Mendoza, the provincial health officer, revealed that Albay recorded seven cases of cholera in December last year.

Mendoza said five of the seven cases recorded in December were from Daraga town, one from Ligao City and one from Legazpi.

Early in January, however, health authorities became more concerned when three people died of cholera in Barangay Gapo, Daraga.

There had been no new cases since then but the five cases that were reported in Daraga last December were all from Barangay Balinad, a village adjacent to Gapo.

“This is why we alerted all municipal and city health officers across the 15 towns and three cities of Albay, not only the affected areas to practice proper household chlorination, proper food preparation, boiling of drinking water especially those from open wells and, most importantly, proper human waste disposal,” he said.

Mendoza said that because the cases reported were from sporadic areas, the provincial health workers were closely monitoring and accounting for possible additional cases.—Rey M. Nasol