Floodwaters are a primary source of leptospirosis and other diseases as rats defecate in them, health authorities say. CDN FILE PHOTO
There are no signs indicating an outbreak of the water-borne disease called leptospirosis in Cebu, the Provincial Health Office said yesterday.
Provincial Epidemiological Surveillance Officer Cyril Kay Pangatungan of the PHO said they only recorded one case of leptospirosis involving a 53-year-old female resident of Minglanilla town last March 3.
In fact, PHO also recorded one leptospirosis case from Tuburan last year.
The Department of Health (DOH) said leptospirosis can be acquired by exposure to flood water, mud and even food contaminated by the urine of infected animals such as rats, pigs, dogs, cattle and goats.
Those who acquired the disease usually showed symptoms of fever, muscle pain, eye redness, yellowish skin and tea-colored urine.
They also experience episodes of coughing, diarrhea and vomiting.
Pangatungan advised the public to consult a doctor should they experience these same symptoms.
“A functional drainage system is needed to avoid contracting the disease since rats run rampant during floods,” Pangatungan said. Last Thursday, the DOH declared a leptospirosis outbreak in seven cities in Manila.
It recorded 368 leptospirosis cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) from Jan. 1 to July 3, in which 52 of them resulted to deaths.