CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Malaria has recurred in the shipyard and surroundings of the Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Phil. Inc. in Subic, Zambales, killing a worker and taking six others ill on May 14, the Task Force Hanjin reported on Friday.

The task force, which was created by the Zambales provincial government, identified the fatality as Mark Anthony Daan, 28.

Reached by phone from Masinloc town, Daan’s wife, Grace, told the Inquirer that doctors at the Candelaria District Hospital confirmed through a blood smear test that her husband was positive with the virus P. falciparum. Daan died at the Iba Provincial Hospital after 10 days of suffering from high fever, chills and stomach pain.

His six co-employees in Less Builders, a subcontractor of Hanjin, had been treated for the same symptoms of the virus, according to the task force.

They were identified as Aron Ebuen, Bernard Efe, Noel Esman, Joso Estella, Juven Pindon and Jano Elardo. Pindon and Elardo remained confined at the provincial hospital.

All the seven workers live in Barangay Bani in Masinloc town, it was learned. During the week, they lived in workers’ barracks built by subcontracting companies, according to Ramon Lacbain II, task force co-chair.

Sought for comment, Pyeong Jong Yu, Hanjin general manager, said in a text message: “We got such allegation Friday (Thursday) and checked it. The fact is that nobody died because of malaria and there is no verified malaria patient. I don’t understand why Task Force Hanjin is initiating such rumor and give us burden of verification.”

Over 8,000 workers, mostly men, are employed at the Korean shipbuilding company.

Dr. Rio Magpantay, director of the Department of Health in Central Luzon, said reports of the new malaria cases have reached his office through the Subic rural health unit.

He said he was sending a team to Zambales to check if there is a malaria outbreak in those parts of Subic town.

In January this year, DOH officials said the outbreak was “under control.”

The DOH’s National Epidemiology Center counted 321 malaria cases among workers and residents around Hanjin from January to June 2007, a report showed.

The DOH earlier advised Hanjin, its subcontractors and the local and provincial governments to take measures to prevent future epidemics because malaria was “endemic” in the area, the report said.

The center’s investigation showed that “the (village) with the highest attack rate was Barangay Cawag, where Hanjin’s construction site is situated.”