Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH – 7) Director, Dr. Jaime Bernadas. | CDN Digital Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) has activated their case finding initiatives to contain the possible spread of polio in the region.
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH-7 regional director, announced this in a press briefing on Monday, February 17 after a Coordination Meeting took place between their agency, and the city governments of Mandaue and Cebu.
Read more: Residents in riverside communities in Mandaue City worried over polio-contaminated Butuanon River
Bernadas told reporters that since Butuanon River in Mandaue City was confirmed to be contaminated with poliovirus, they would be looking into suspected cases of polio in the cities of Mandaue, Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and the town of Consolacion.
Presently, Bernadas said there were no confirmed cases of polio in Central Visayas.
Read more: DOH to roll out intensified surveillance, vaccination drives against spread of polio in CV
“There are no confirmed cases of polio in our region so far but since this developed, we will be starting our active case finding,” he said.
The DOH-7 official said their active case finding would be on top of the intensified acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance, and vaccination drives in the region. /dbs