Tuburan execs blamed for typhoid outbreak

The Department of Health in Central Visayas said yesterday that the local government unit of Tuburan could be faulted for the typhoid outbreak that hit the town.

The DOH’s Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) said LGUs are obligated to monitor their water systems, especially if the LGU directly manages the water system.

Renan Cimafranca, Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit 7 chief said the safety of the local government’s water supply depends on the improvement of the system.

For level 3 water systems, disinfection is required, he said.

Under Department of Health Administrative Order 2007-0012, otherwise known as Philippine Standard for Drinking Water of 2007, chlorination is a basic process of disinfecting water to make it fit for human consumption.

Mayor Aljun Diamante in earlier interviews admitted that the town-managed Tuburan Waterworks System that provides level 3 water service to the town has no chlorinators prior to the outbreak.

Diamante said they have installed the chlorinators after residents showed symptoms of typhoid in late February.

The mayor earlier said the local government would use the P10-million grant from the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) to improve the town’s 60-year-old waterworks system.

At least P8 million was spent by the Cebu provincial government to expand and rehabilitate the level 3 waterworks system in 2008 based on records of the Provincial Planning and Development Office.

The town has level 3 water supply, which means supply is delivered to households.

The DOH declared an outbreak of the water-borne disease after cases of typhoid topped 800 and five deaths were recorded as of March 5, this year. The said outbreak is the biggest on record in the Central Visayas.

Meanwhile, Cimafranca said they are also monitoring 11 cases of typhoid fever in barangay Legaspi in Alegria town, which stemmed from the contamination of their water system.

In 2010, a typhoid outbreak was declared in Alegria after their cases reached 600 early last year. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter with reports from Carmel Loise Matus