Amoebiasis downs 72 villagers in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO - At least 72 people were downed by amoebiasis in an outbreak that hit a village in Aleosan town over the weekend.

Aleosan Mayor Vicente Suropia Jr. on Monday told The Star that the victims, all residents of Barangay Pagangan, contracted amoebic dysentery after drinking water from a common well that became contaminated following last week’s heavy downpours.

In a report to Suropia and North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, physician Miguelita Patinio of the Aleosan District Hospital said the patients first complained of painful abdominal spasms and they experienced diarrhea.

Mendoza said she has tasked the provincial health office to help the Aleosan local government unit attend to the needs of the patients.

A total of 24 patients were still confined in the hospital.

Mendoza said experts from the provincial engineer’s office have also been directed to check on safe sources of drinking water in Barangay Pagangan.

Patinio said stool samples of the victims tested positive with amoebic microorganisms.

“A big number of the villagers that got sick are minors,” Patinio said.

She said that they have already "chlorinated" wells surrounding Barangay Pagangan and nearby areas.

The outbreak came just seven months after a cholera outbrek in Alamada town that left eight people dead.