Authorities confirm 128 cases of severe bacterial infection Leptospirosis among people displaced by December's Typhoon Washi
(Corrects paragraph 8 to show U.N. says there are 36,000 people in evacuation centres, not 36,000 families/180,000 people, as Red Cross had quoted U.N. as saying. Also corrects to clarify there are about 197,000 people staying with relatives and in makeshift shelters, not tens of thousands in makeshift shelters/with host families)
By Thin Lei Win
BANGKOK (AlertNet) – Authorities in the Philippines have confirmed 128 cases of the severe bacterial infection Leptospirosis among people displaced by a tropical storm that hit Mindanao island in mid-December, the Red Cross said.
Last month Typhoon Washi killed more than 1,200 people in the north of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, after it sent torrents of water, mud and logs cascading through riverside and coastal villages. The storm destroyed more than 10,000 houses and displaced more than 300,000 people.
There are a further 200 suspected cases of Leptospirosis, which is contracted through wounds or broken skin that come in contact with flood waters, vegetation or moist soil that are contaminated by bacteria coming from the urine of infected animals.
It can cause headaches, muscle and eye pain, fevers, chills and vomiting. In serious cases in can lead to meningitis, liver damage (causing jaundice), and renal failure. Person-to-person transmission is rare, according to the World Health Organization.
“This outbreak highlights again how precarious the lives of many people in northern Mindanao are,” Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said in the statement.
“They urgently need support.”
Since Typhoon Washi hit Mindanao, people have spent two and a half weeks in crowded evacuation centres or ruined neighbourhoods with limited access to clean water and basic sanitation, he said.
There are currently 36,000 people in evacuation centres, according to the United Nations.
The U.N. said in its latest situation report that those who have been displaced need to be relocated urgently and that new accommodation must be found quickly due to the increasing risk of disease outbreaks.
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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