Poliovirus traced to Laguna creek

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna, Philippines — Water samples taken from a creek in Calamba City in Laguna province tested positive for the poliovirus, several months after health authorities confirmed the reemergence of the disease.

Officials in Barangay Bucal advised people against going down the Ligasong creek, where the sample was taken.

Officials of the city government and of the Calamba Water District clarified that water being supplied to households is drawn from a different groundwater source.

Dennis Labro, city health officer, said the Department of Health (DOH) had been testing the waterways since October last year, after a 5-year-old boy from Barangay Linga in Calamba caught the disease.

The boy was the second case of polio recorded in the country, after a 3-year-old girl from Lanao del Sur.

—Maricar Cinco