Typhoid cases in Agusan del Sur reach 478

BUTUAN CITY — Typhoid fever has so far stricken 478 people in Agusan del Sur, a number of them confined in hospitals in Davao City which have better facilities, the provincial information office said.

Agusan del Sur Gov. Adolph Edward Plaza has deployed provincial health workers headed by Dr. Estefania Nonan, deputy provincial health officer, to two communities in Barangay Libertad, Bunawan town, where the typhoid outbreak was reported last Tuesday.

At least 202 typhoid-stricken residents, according to provincial information officer Ferdinand Perez, were brought to the Bunawan district hospital.

Of the patients, at least 29 were released the following day since their farms were left unattended.

Bunawan Mayor Gilbert Elorde spearheaded a house-to-house campaign to prevent the highly infectious disease from spreading.

Besides the Bunawan district hospital, the typhoid patients were also brought for treatment to the Libertad barangay rural health center, Bunawan municipal health office, Democrito Plaza Memorial Hospital, and hospitals in Davao City.

Perez said the typhoid outbreak has been contained with a number of patients released from different hospitals for continuing treatment at home.

Health authorities said contamination of deep wells might have caused the outbreak.

Meanwhile, a non-government organization here is asking the real status of the reported diarrhea outbreak in communities near the Masao River after the reported death of a nine-year-old girl.

However, there has been no official report from the local Department of Health office on the supposed outbreak, which the group blamed on the many fishcages and fishpens that have sprouted in the Masao River.

The group bewailed the worsening pollution of the once historical river, which was discovered to have a high level of coliform, bacteria normally found in the feces of humans and animals.