Jellyfish attack downs 127 policemen

CEBU — A counter-insurgency sea exercise off Sibonga town last Tuesday turned into a complete disaster for 127 members of the Philippine National Police Regional Mobile Group (PNP-RMG).

As the policemen waded into chest-deep water, they suddenly realized they were surrounded and before they could escape, they came under intense attack not by insurgents, but by hundreds of jellyfish.

The stinging tentacles of the jellyfish, later identified by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as sea wasps and box jellyfish, two types that are common in the coastal waters of tropical countries during summer, burned the skins of the defenseless policemen, causing severe itching and rashes.

The following day, dozens of the policemen began to vomit and experience dizzy spells, and a good number developed high fever, prompting their immediate transfer to the PNP regional hospital in Cebu City.

At least two truckloads of ailing policemen were taken to Cebu City by Wednesday noon.

They had endured nearly 24 hours of excruciating itchiness and skin burns before their superiors decided to bring them to the hospital.

Senior Superintendent Jesus Gaquing, RMG-7 chief, said the whole batch of 127 policemen recruited in 2003 was involved in the jellyfish attack.

They had been trying to hone their skills in waterborne exercises as part of their Special Counter-Insurgency Operations Unit Training (SCOUT) at a beach behind the RMG camp in Sibonga when the incident happened.

Superintendent Verena Ramos, chief of the PNP regional health services, said all the policemen she attended to exhibited generalized allergic skin reactions.

But Ramos did not discount the possibility that aside from the jellyfish attack, the allergies could have also been aggravated by pollution or toxic wastes in the waters off Sibonga.

Ramos said she hopes the proper authorities can test the waters in the area to see if they are polluted since residents who swim there may also be affected.

Lou Arciaga, BFAR public information officer, said the sea wasps and box jellyfish that probably attacked the policemen normally proliferate during summer in the coastal seas of tropical countries like the Philippines.

She said these organisms emerge during summer because they reproduce in high temperatures.

She said people who are stung by their tentacles experience instant itchiness and burning sensations. The tentacles have the capacity to cause blindness by damaging the cornea if the tentacles come into contact with the eyes.

Arciaga singled out the box jellyfish as a particularly deadly organism whose sting can be fatal. Over a 30-year period from 1950 to 1980, a total of 70 deaths had been attributed to this type of jellyfish in tropical countries, she said.

The best way to treat a jellyfish sting when one is away from immediate medical attention is to wash the affected parts with running water, vinegar and even urine, if only to control the effects of the sting.

Without treatment, a person stung by such an organism can begin to experience difficulty in breathing and nausea, can lapse into a shock, and even eventually die. — With Ryan Borinaga/ Freeman News Service