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==[[Sarangani News]]==
==[[Sarangani News]]==
'''Sarangani eyes leaked reservoir pipelines in diarrhea outbreak'''
'''Water in Brgy. Tinoto unsafe for drinking'''
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=380263
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=r12&id=60127
*October 19, 2011, 2:24 pm
*Thursday, October 20, 2011
:by (PNA)
:PIA Press Release
LDV/AVE




GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Oct. 19 (PNA) – Health authorities in Sarangani are eyeing the leaks in the damaged pipelines of a village reservoir as possibly behind the water contamination that caused a diarrhea outbreak in a coastal community in Maasim town during the past several days.
TINOTO, Maasim, Sarangani, October 20 (PIA) -- Provincial health officer Dr. Antonio Yasana today declared all sources of water within barangay Tinoto “not fit for drinking purposes.”
 
Meanwhile, Mayor Jose Zamorro said a municipal vehicle was already shuttling containers of drinking water from the poblacion to the diarrhea-stricken village.
Dr. Antonio Yasaña, Sarangani health officer, said Wednesday they found numerous leaks in the pipelines of the village’s reservoir that could have triggered the contamination of the drinking water of hundreds of households in Barangay Tinoto in Maasim since last week.
All drinking water hauled to the village will continue water treatment using “Waterine Solution” for drinking purposes until the situation has been totally stabilized.
 
“The situation is manageable, meaning we are addressing the needs of the community,” said Yasana. “We do not want that there will be more (diarrhea) cases that will be happening.”
Yasaña and provincial sanitary engineer Ruben Pelones were dispatched to the area earlier this week by Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez to investigate the cause of the outbreak, which already caused the death of three children.
On Monday, Dr. Jaileen Milar, municipal health officer, reported that diarrhea cases started to occur on October 11 with one diarrhea death reported on the same date. Another two deaths were reported on October 15 and 16 and the cases of diarrhea escalated to 46.
 
On Tuesday, the total number of cases reached 254 but mostly outpatient due to “mild presentation” of the illness. As of today, Milar said only 18 diarrhea patients were admitted at Maasim Municipal Hospital.
As of Wednesday morning, the Municipal Health Office (MHO) of Maasim reported the number of residents who were affected by the outbreak so far reached 254.
Fishing is the main livelihood of the people in barangay Tinoto. Their water source is from two peddling tankers coming from Bawing, General Santos City and Siguel, and two local water systems.
 
At a meeting presided over by Yasana this morning, an internal crisis committee (ICC) was created to plan and implement “immediate actions” even as the diarrhea outbreak subsided.
It said 54 of the victims were still confined at the Maasim District Hospital but were already in stable condition.
Yasana told the ICC that the existing water source in Tinoto can be used for washing and laundry only and not even for washing dishes or kitchen utensils.
 
“What is definite is that all the water sources are infected, contaminated with coliform bacteria,” Yasana said, based on initial result of microbiological test of Tinoto’s water sources.
In an ocular inspection, provincial and municipal health and sanitary personnel found out that the damaged pipeline that runs from Barangay Tinoto’s reservoir passes through a dried up creek that usually gets flooded following heavy rains.
Health workers were continuing surveillance in the village. “We have enough drug supplies. So as of the moment, what I can say is that the situation is manageable,” Yasana said.
 
Yasana also recommended the construction of a communal toilet. He said there were “no sanitary toilets among the majority of the residents with no proper waste disposal.”
A portion of the creek, which showed traces of dumped household and human wastes, reportedly gets flooded with sea water during high tide, submerging the leaked pipelines.
“Most of the patients interviewed do not practice simple and proper hygiene practices such as handwashing,” Yasana said. “Many were observed to have dirty long nails.”
 
The village has been declared under a state of calamity for the barangay government to use its 5-percent calamity fund.
“The water pipelines coming from the water reservoir harbor damages/leaks, which theoretically might be the cause of contamination that caused the diarrhea outbreak,” an evaluation report released by the Sarangani health office said.
The ICC would meet again Thursday to discuss civil works for the rehabilitation of water system and construction of communal toilet. (Sarangani Information Office/PIA GeneralSantos City)
 
Yasaña said they initially recommended the immediate repair and rehabilitation of the village’s reservoir’s damaged pipelines to stop the water contamination.
 
He said they directed village officials to strictly impose proper waste disposal in the area and work for the immediate construction of communal toilets in each purok or cluster of houses.
 
“These are immediate solutions that should be addressed to prevent a similar problem in the future,” the health official said.
 
Dr. Jaileen Milar, Maasim MHO chief, said they are set to inspect the village’s reservoir to check the quality of the facility and its stored water.
 
The MHO earlier submitted the water samples from the area for laboratory tests but the results were not yet available.
 
“We continued with the treatment of the affected residents and also took some rectal swabs just to rule out cholera. But I doubt whether this was caused by cholera because the manifestations of the illness was not that much intense,” she said.
 
In the meantime, Barangay Tinoto chair Rajik Kudarat said they continued rationing potable water to the affected households pending proper clearance of the area’s water supplies.
 
The office of Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao earlier commissioned a truck to supply potable water to the affected residents from the Pacquiao-owned Pacman water treatment and refilling facility.


==Photo Gallery of Sarangani, Philippines==
==Photo Gallery of Sarangani, Philippines==
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