DOH probes San Carlos amoebiasis outbreak

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is sending a team of epidemiologists to San Carlos City in Negros Occidental to verify a reported outbreak of amoebiasis.

At a press conference yesterday, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the team was tasked to confirm if the declaration of a state of health emergency by the city government was necessary.

“We have a policy that states that an LGU (local government unit) has to go through the DOH to seek guidance and for us to verify the event before it can declare a state of calamity or emergency,” Vergeire said.

She said initial data showed that only 60 percent of the 189 reported cases in the city had been confirmed as amoebiasis.

“Cases started going up this February in San Carlos City. They currently have 189 cases. The previous year, they had zero cases,” Vergeire said.

Last week, San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo issued an executive order declaring a state of health emergency due to the increasing number of amoebiasis cases.

Amoebiasis is an intestinal disease caused by a parasite called amoeba. The symptoms are diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain and weight loss.

Vergeire said amoebiasis is usually transmitted via contaminated food or water.