Virac cholera cases blamed on tainted water

MANILA, Philippines - Two water sources in Virac, Catanduanes have tested positive for fecal coliform, confirming suspicions that contaminated water supply was the cause of the outbreak of cholera in the capital town, a Department of Health (DOH) official said yesterday.

“Most likely they are deep wells. Sometimes if there are no toilets in the provinces, the people there do their thing (by digging into the ground). Maybe the waste had seeped into their water sources,” DOH Undersecretary Ted Herbosa said.

The results of laboratory tests on water samples taken from other areas were still not available.

The DOH has declared a cholera outbreak in Virac, which accounted for 748 of the 1,370 cholera cases in Catanduanes from Jan. 1 to June 13. 

Virac also accounted for six of the eight confirmed cholera deaths. 

Herbosa said the rest of the 1,370 cases came from 11 other towns, but the DOH attributed them to diarrhea outbreaks, pending laboratory confirmation that it was indeed cholera that afflicted them.