World | Philippines
Disease outbreak feared in typhoon-hit area
The Department of Health has recommended the burial of cadavers recovered from the aftermath of typhoon Durian.
- By Cher Jimenez, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 December 5, 2006
- Image Credit: EPA
- Maricel Arevalo searches for her three missing children near the slopes of Mt Mayon volcano following the mudslide triggered by Typhoon Durian in Daraga village.
Manila: The Department of Health has recommended the burial of cadavers recovered from the aftermath of typhoon Durian.
Meanwhile, epidemiologists have been dispatched to the Bicol region in southern Philippines to watch out for a possible outbreak of diseases in the evacuation centres.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the bodies of those exhumed from Thursday's mudslide from Mt Mayon should be buried within 72 hours or to a maximum of 5 days to prevent decay.
"It's safer to bury them immediately and to exhume them after for identification," the health secretary said.
While a delay in the burial of the bodies will not cause an outbreak of disease since bacteria do not survive in human remains, the health chief said the source of ailments may come from crowded evacuation centres where victims are temporarily sheltered.
"So far there are no reports of an outbreak. But our epidemiologists are on the move doing assessment of possible water-borne diseases," the Health Secretary said.
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