CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Two people died and more than 500 others fell ill in a suspected cholera outbreak affecting at least eight barangays in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

Tagoloan Mayor Paulino Emano identified the affected barangays as Poblacion, Baluarte, Sugbongcogon, Bogoac, Sta Cruz, Casinglot, Mohon, and Sihayon.

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Emano said they are withholding the names of the fatalities until health authorities can validate the cause of death.

Provincial Health Chief Ignacio Moreno said his office is still investigating the health crisis. He, however, said the cause of the illness might be the Vibrio cholerae bacteria or cholera.

Moreno said the symptoms exhibited by the victims resemble cholera and not amoebiasis as earlier reported by some radio stations.

The symptoms of cholera are the sudden onset of frequent painless watery stools, vomiting, and rapid dehydration (sunken eyeballs, wrinkled and dry skin). Complications of the illness include high fever, rapid loss of body fluids, dehydration, and shock.

Death can result within hours if the illness is left untreated.

Moreno said the watery stools and vomiting make cholera dangerous because they cause sudden dehydration.

An advisory posted at the Department of Health (DOH) website said a person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.

Melissa Monesque of Ganghaan, Barangay Sta Cruz, Tagoloan, whose seven-month-old daughter was among the youngest victims, said her daughter started to experience loose bowel movement (LBM) around 4 p.m. last Sunday. This went on until dawn of Monday when she decided to bring her child to the health center.

But Moreno said they have yet to confirm if the water is the cause of the outbreak.

Mayor Emano said Tagoloan has two sources of water -- the Tagoloan Water Works and the Mactan Rock in Natumolan.

Emano pointed out that some of the sick do not have a water line connection. Just the same, Emano said he has tasked some of the town's personnel to check on the water line connections of Tagoloan.

A team of medical technologists from the DOH and Provincial Health Office (PHO) was dispatched to the town by the Provincial Government to get samples of water.

The mayor said they have enough medicines, medical supply, and bottled water but said any help will be appreciated.

Emano added that the local government has so far spent more than P100,000 for the intravenous insertion (I.V.) and other medicines for the victims.

The suspected cholera outbreak was first reported last Saturday night when 12 people exhibiting cholera symptoms were brought to the Tagoloan Municipal Health Unit (MHU), Emano said. More people were brought to the MHU Sunday and Monday morning, he added.

As of Monday, 23 suspected cholera victims have been confined in the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) and more than 30 others at the Tagoloan Polymedic Hospital.

The Tagoloan Polymedic Hospital has refused to accept more patients due to the lack of rooms and beds.

Dr. Jennifer Advincula, chief of the Tagoloan Municipal Health Unit, has also been asking for the assistance of other doctors from Balingasag, Claveria, Manticao, Villanueva, and Jasaan. (ALR/Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)

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(November 18, 2008 issue)
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