COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Diarrhea has downed 70 people in a remote barangay in Lake Sebu town in South Cotabato and has led to the death of an infant.
Physician Jocelyn Bayquin, municipal health officer of Lake Sebu, confirmed the outbreak on Sunday.
She said the patients have a common source of drinking water, a well in Sitio Salban in Barangay Ned.
The diarrhea-stricken villagers first complained of loose bowel movement and abdominal spasms early Saturday.
Bayquin said the town's health office has collected stool samples from some of the patients for laboratory analysis.
An eight-month-old child has already died from diarrhea-induced dehydration, she said.
Community leaders said Sitio Salban is has a scarcity of sources of drinking water.
Bayquin said the South Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office in Koronadal City, the capital of South Cotabato, has dispatched health workers to help address the diarrhea outbreak.