Gastroenteritis outbreak in Baguio City ‘officially contained’ – DOH exec

FILE PHOTO: A worker from the Baguio City health office checks a water sample for contaminants as the local government tries to establish the cause of the outbreak of acute gastroenteritis and diarrhea in the summer capital. —PHOTO COURTESY OF BAGUIO CITY HEALTH OFFICE

MANILA, Philippines — The gastroenteritis outbreak in Baguio City is now “officially contained,” Health Undersecretary and spokesperson Eric Tayag said Tuesday.

Tayag also said that the Baguio City Health Office recorded at least 3,000 cases of diarrhea in the city based on “online self-reporting.”

Only a few of the patients were hospitalized, and no fatality was recorded, he added.

“Official na pong na-contain ang gastroenteritis outbreak sa Baguio City,” Tayag said in a media forum.

(The gastroenteritis outbreak in Baguio City has been officially contained.)

However, he noted that some of the water samples collected for testing were positive for fecal coliform.

READ: Gastroenteritis outbreak declared in Baguio

“Fecal coliform po ibig sabihin galing sa isang tao na may sakit kaya po maaaring ito po ang naging dahilan ng naturang outbreak,” the official explained.

(Fecal coliform means it came from a sick person, so this may have been the cause of such an outbreak.)

Tayag said the city health office detected isolated norovirus and sapovirus cases among the diarrhea patients.

READ: Baguio eyes ‘safe water’ code amid gastroenteritis outbreak

“Nai-report rin po ng City Health [Office] ng Baguio sa atin na may na-isolate po na virus, ito ‘yung norovirus [at] sapovirus,” he said.

(The City Health [Office] of Baguio also reported to us that there is an isolated virus; it’s the norovirus [and] sapovirus.)

The patients infected with norovirus and sapovirus have already recovered, Tayag said.