TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – The Department of Health in Eastern Visayas reported that at least 26 persons have been afflicted with hepatitis A in a village on the island of Limasawa in Southern Leyte since early November.

Regional health sentinel nurse Boyd Cerro said the first case of the disease was detected in Barangay Triana, Limasawa on November 2.

Triana, one of six barangays on the historic island town of Limasawa, has a population of 1,166.

All the victims experienced sore muscles, yellow discoloration of the skin (jaundice), pains on the upper left chest and fever.

Cerro said that only four of the victims were admitted to the town's hospital. The rest stayed home.

Cerro said the DoH has already contained the disease as it had provided medicines to all affected persons.

But the DoH regional office said it still has to determine the cause of the spread of the viral disease.

"We suspect that it could be either due to dirty food or due to dirty water," Cerro said.

Only few of the houses in the village have their own toilets and a water pump is their source of drinking water.

"That is why we appeal to our people there to always observe personal hygiene, like washing their hands after using the toilets and also observe sanitation in their surroundings," Cerro said.

Hepatitis A is an acute liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV) that can be transmitted through ingestion of fecal matter, even in microscopic amounts, from close person-to-person contact or ingestion of contaminated food or drinks.