Philippines: Maguindanao cholera outbreak sickens 67, two dead
An outbreak of the bacterial disease, cholera, has sickened dozens, mostly children on Bongo Island, Maguindanao in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), according to a PhilStar report April 8.
Maguindanao map
Image/The Coffee at wikimedia commons
Of the 67 stricken with the serious gastrointestinal disease, 51 were children. A three-year-old girl and a 33-year-old fisherman died as a result of the illness.
Secretary of the Department of Health in the ARMM, Dr. Kadil Sinolinding, Jr., said that the deep wells where people get water drinking and cooking were made murky and unsafe by heavy rains three days before victims started complaining of painful abdominal spasms and loose bowel movement.
Health workers have been assigned to the area to educate villagers and monitor the situation. Sinolinding noted there was enough medicine to treat residents, if required.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Cholera is a bacterial disease that can cause diarrhea and dehydration. Cholera is most often spread through the ingestion of contaminated food or drinking water. Water may be contaminated by the feces of an infected person or by untreated sewage. Food is often contaminated by water containing cholera bacteria or by being handled by a person ill with cholera.
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[…] a follow up to a story last week, health officials from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the southern Philippines […]