Baguio City mayor lifts gastro outbreak: 'We are now officially out of the woods'
The diarrhea outbreak in Baguio City is over, said the city mayor.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said that the City of Pines is now "shifting to the endemic phase," suggesting they have identified its cause.
"We can now confidently say that we are now officially out of the woods. We are now shifting to the endemic phase, where diarrhea cases are back to normal rate," he said during a forum on Thursday, Jan. 18.
The declaration comes after an "extensive discussion on the epidemiologic investigation of the outbreak" happened between Magalong and the Department of Health (DOH) officials and its epidemiological bureau.
"We were also able to, one way or another, let's say, 80 percent, determine the cause of the outbreak. We have identified, one way or another, the cause and how it spread," Magalong said.
Gastroenteritis outbreaks were attributed to a waterborne source
Dr. Celia Flor Brilliantes, the city's Health Services Officer, revealed in the same conference that the outbreak was brought on by deep wells where water delivery vehicles obtain their supply before delivering it to homes and businesses.
"Several [customers] resorted to water delivery because of the high demand for water due to the increased visitor arrival in the city," she explained.
Brillantes confirmed the presence of coliforms, or bacteria found in feces and the environment, in 12 deep wells.
In response, Magalong issued a shutdown order for deep well operators and water delivery companies linked to the outbreak. They must remain closed "until they are cleared," and stricter regulations will be implemented for all bulk and potable water delivery services.
'Bacterial culture is still ongoing'
Currently, Baguio officials are waiting for the DOH-Epidemiology Bureau's final bacteriological and virological reports, which they hope to receive by Friday.
Dr. Donnabel Panes, chief of the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU), said norovirus, a contagious virus, was found in at least 50 percent of the water samples as well as from the stool samples from hospitalized patients that the DOH's Epidemiology Bureau tested.
According to her, it is a secondary transmission from infected people who prepared or handled food for their families.
While the "bacterial culture" is still ongoing, Brillantes said that "it cannot still be ruled out for bacterial pathogens."
Nonetheless, she said the outbreak is over since it is already past the incubation period and diarrhea cases are significantly decreasing.
On Wednesday, Jan. 10, Magalong declared a state of health emergency in the city due to the outbreak, with the number of affected individuals reaching 2,199 as of Thursday, Jan. 11. Of these, 45 were admitted to the hospital, but no severe infections were noted.
During that time, most cases were linked to patients who dined in a food establishment, followed by 13.2% who ordered take-out food and 11.2% who ate home-cooked meals. The other 12 percent had other circumstances. It was also noted that the outbreaks were associated with 218 establishments, 175 households, and residents from neighboring towns.