COTABATO CITY –– Two children had died while 42 others had been downed by what health officials believed was an outbreak of diarrhea on an island village of Maguindanao, health authorities reported.
Health Minister Saffrulah Dipatuan of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao confirmed to reporters that the diarrhea was triggered by contaminated water sources.
Dipatuan said a health team sent to Barangay Bongo Island off the coast of Parang, Maguindanao, traced the contaminated water from two sources tapped by residents, who are mostly Maguindanaon fishermen.
One of the water sources is an open well, while the other is a closed well, but both have been found to have a high concentration of e-coli, Dipatuan said.
“One team sent there to treat the sick and investigate had gathered stool samples that confirmed high e-coli bacteria from water sources,” Dipatuan told reporters.
Many residents have no toilets and dispose of their human wastes elsewhere.
The dry spell has ushered in, the time when residents rely mainly on open wells as sources of drinking water.
Dipatuan said the outbreak had been contained and that a health team from the Parang local government was already on the island village to closely monitor the situation.