LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines -- After more than half a century, the Department of Health (DoH) declared Sorsogon province "malaria and filariasis free" on Thursday, Bicol health officials said.

It was a milestone to finally declare the province free of the two infectious diseases, Doctor Nestor Santiago Jr., Bicol regional health director, said.

The province has had cases of malaria and filariasis as early as the 1950s and was only finally declared free of them this year, Dr. Alan Lucañas, infectious disease coordinator of the DoH in Bicol, said.

Representatives from the DoH central office in Manila went to Sorsogon for the declaration.

According to the DoH website, malaria is a disease caused by protozoan parasites called Plasmodium. It is usually transmitted through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito.

Its symptoms are chills, fever, too much sweating when the fever subsides, and headache.

Filariasis, which is commonly known as “elephantiasis” because the victim’s legs and arms would swell to a size like those of an elephant’s, is a disease caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes.

Its symptoms are pain and swelling of the breast, vagina, scrotum, legs, and arms; fever, cough, chills, and wheezing.