Rare dengue-like disease takes 200 ill

TACLOBAN CITY—A rare disease has stricken more than 200 people in two remote villages in a Samar town, according to a regional health official.

Boyd Cerro, regional sentinel nurse of the Department of Health, said the disease, chikungunya, took ill more than 200 residents of Banquil and Guintarcan, two of the biggest villages of Villareal town in Samar.

Chikungunya is a dengue-like disease.

Cerro said the discovery of the disease in Villareal is the first in Eastern Visayas although chikungunya is endemic, or known to naturally exist, in the country.

He said 235 residents of Banquil and 28 in Guintarcan have been afflicted with chikungunya. The two villages have a population of 1,000 each.

Renato Latorre, mayor of Villareal, quoted health officials as saying the disease came in November until December last year. “In fact, I myself got ill,” said the mayor.