Butuanon River in Mandaue tested positive for poliovirus — DOH

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) announced that samples taken from Butuanon River in Mandaue City had tested positive of the poliovirus.

The state’s health department said this as they confirmed another case of polio in the Philippines — a 1-year-old boy from Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija. 

This is the 17th confirmed case in the Philippines since the disease reemerged in September 2019.

 “The patient manifested with fever and sudden onset weakness of the left lower limb. The case was detected through surveillance of AFP (Acute Flaccid Paralysis cases) in the communities done and reported by barangay health workers,” DOH’s statement read.

“DOH also reported that environmental samples collected from Butuanon River, Cebu, tested positive for the poliovirus as confirmed by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine,” it added. 

The agency also said they were now assisting the Cities of Mandaue and Cabanatuan in strengthening their Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance capacities — including identification and reporting mechanisms. 

“DOH continues to implement the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio (SPKP) campaign in the National Capital Region, and all regions of Mindanao. The succeeding SPKP round will run from February 17 – March 1 in all regions of Mindanao and February 24 – March 8 in Metro Manila,” it added. 

According to WHO, polio is a highly infectious disease that affects the nervous system. Paralysis can happen to people infected with polio.

Person-to-person transmission of the disease is possible through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle such as contaminated water or food. 

Children below 5 years old are at risk of contracting polio, whose symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs. /dbs