Life in cholera-hit Cotabato villages back to normal

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Life in villages here hit by a cholera outbreak last week has returned to normal, but health authorities continue imposing measures to prevent any resurgence of the water-borne disease.

Eight cholera-stricken villagers in the hinterland town of Alamada died while more than 200 others were hospitalized from May 9 to 14 after drinking water from springs and rivers contaminated with vibrio cholera.

Health workers and sanitation experts dispatched to Alamada by North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza almost a week ago have also been educating the villagers on the traditional means of purifying drinking water.

Alamada officials and the provincial government agreed to temporarily close to tourists the Asik-Asik Falls in Barangay Dado, where the outbreak started.

The waterfall, a major eco-tourism site in North Cotabato, is frequented by local and foreign tourists on weekends and on non-working holidays.

“Life has started to return to normal. What we need now is a continuing education process for the local folk to learn how to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases in their communities,” said Dr. Eva Rabaya, chief of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO).

Health officials said on Friday that rectal swabs taken from 438 Alamada villagers, from out of the 769 who complained of painful abdominal spasms, nausea and diarrhea, tested positive for vibrio cholera.

Rabaya said they have asked barangay officials to impose rationing of safe drinking water to their constituents in the cholera-stricken areas to prevent another outbreak.

Mendoza, who earlier had sent medicine and intravenous fluids to health centers in Alamada, said IPHO workers will remain deployed in the municipality until health officials declare the outbreak fully contained.