IN MISAMIS
Contaminated water seen in outbreak
By Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 23:25:00 11/20/2008
Filed Under: Epidemic and Plague, Water Supply
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines—The outbreak of diarrhea in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, may be due to contaminated drinking water supplied by the municipal water district, local officials said Thursday.
This developed as reports from the Department of Health placed the number of diarrhea cases at nearly 1,500 since Saturday.
"We are still investigating the cause but if we find out that there was negligence on the part of the local water district, they would be held liable," said Governor Oscar Moreno of Misamis Oriental.
Moreno has ordered the creation of a special task force that will investigate the outbreak and attend to the needs of the patients.
"We haven't seen the reservoir yet. We also have to take into account the circumstances leading to the outbreak," Moreno told reporters here as he assured the public that the contamination was confined to Tagoloan town only.
Local radio reports have cited that the disease has spread to nearby Villanueva town, with hundreds coming to the municipal health center with the same symptoms.
Teddy Sabugaa, provincial administrator, confirmed the reported cases of diarrhea in Villanueva but the symptoms exhibited by patients there were different from those in Tagoloan.
"I don't think it has spread to Villanueva. Our initial laboratory tests showed that the diarrhea in Villanueva was cause by amoeba, not E-coli bacteria. But we are still doing more tests," he said.
Sabugaa also urged the National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health in Manila to speed up the release of the results of laboratory tests it conducted in Tagoloan.
"We already need to confirm whether this is cholera or not. But we still have to wait for result of tests in Manila which is taking too long," he said.
Moreno said he had not declared a state of calamity in the area yet.
"We have sufficient funds right now to provide for the patients' needs and contain the problem. There is no need to get money from the calamity fund as of now," he said.
|
