City Health Officer Rachel Daba Dilla confirms during the City Council session on September 23, 2025 that the water storage “reservoir” of a mall establishment situated at Claro M. Recto Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, has not been cleaned for some time.
TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | ‘LCEs may declare disease outbreak’
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Even if infections of a disease has gone beyond the expected number of confirmed cases within a certain period of time in a specific place, still it is within the prerogative of the local chief executive to declare an outbreak or not.
“We do not declare an outbreak,” said Medical Doctor Maryanne Sharlene Isidto of the Department of Health Region 10 (DOH-10) on Thursday, September 18, in a forum after she reported that Northern Mindanao had recorded 1,893 cases of Head, Foot and Mouth Diseases (HFMD), within 33 weeks this year.
HFMD, a viral infection with initial symptoms of fever, sore throat, malaise and loss of appetite, is highly contagious for weeks even when skin rashes, sores or blisters on mouth, hands and feet are gone after 10 days.
The HFMD-causing Coxsackieviruses spread are found in body fluids through nasal and throat secretions, saliva, blisters, and stool (feces) transmitted via respiratory droplets, contaminated objects, and fecal-oral route.
“While most of the HFMD patients are five years old and below, school children are also infected, and adults as well,” said Isidto, who heads DOH-10’s Communications and Health Education Promotions Unit (CHEPU). Frequent hand-washing and proper hygiene within the household and in classrooms could prevent the virus from spreading, she said.
The CHEPU chief based her discussions on the data from the DOH-10’s Regional Epidemiology Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit (RESDRU) that listed only 121 cases of HFMD for the same period in 2024 – a surprisingly 1,345-percent increase, so far, this year.
Of the region’s five provinces, Bukidnon posted 683 HFMD cases, roughly comprising one-third of Northern Mindanao total incidence while Misamis Oriental had 450, Misamis Occidental 285, Lanao del Norte 211, and Camiguin 34. Among cities, Valencia of Bukidnon logged in 164 cases, Cagayan de Oro 142, Iligan 88, El Salvador 80, Malaybalay 43, Tangub 28, Ozamiz 26, and Oroquieta 22.
Earlier, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported that the town mayor of Gitagum, Misamis Oriental, prompted by 30 incidents of what could be HFMD cases had declared an HFMD outbreak and subsequently suspended classes. This, however, was not reflected in the DOH-10 RESDRU report.
“Those cases, still not reflected in our RESDRU, may still be in our Epidemiology Bureau at the Central Office for confirmation,” Senior Health Education Promotion Officer Aian Caridad of DOH-10 told The Monitor Mindanao Today. “Disinfection (of classrooms) must have been done,” she added.
The declaration of a disease outbreak is done by the local government chief executive, but a certain set of criteria have to be complied with, Caridad said, referring to Republic Act No. 11332, the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Events of Public Health Concern Act.
This, after an epidemiologic investigation has been conducted by a team of health professionals on the incidence, prevalence, extent, source, mode of transmission, causation of, and other pertinent information on HFMD. (MT)
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