Manila: Eight more tribesmen reportedly died of diarrhoea, raising the death toll in the remote mountainous village of tribesmen in Palawan province, southwest Philippines, to 28, a radio report said.
The number of the latest fatalities will be confirmed by a medical team sent to Latud village, in Rizal town, which neighbours the town of Bataraza, said Dr Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Centre.
"Some residents of Bataraza may have spread diarrhoea [to] Latud [village]," Tayag said, after being asked if authorities were wrong in claiming that the outbreak had been contained in Bataraza.
Local government units alerted police and military forces to prepare for a disaster and the spread of the disease to other villages outside of Bataraza, as had happened in the village of Latud.
Health authorities coordinated with the Local Water Utilities Administration to prevent the spread of the outbreak in the areas dominated by an indigenous tribe called the Palawaneos.
Batarasa River was confirmed to be positive for faecal contamination, the reason for the outbreak in Batarasa, reports said.
Residents bathe in the river which also meets their drinking water needs.
Victims in Bataraza town were aged between seven months and 85 years, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
About 90 residents were admitted to Rio Tuba Nickel Hospital in March, following the outbreak.
Some of the victims were treated at public schools. However, a number of sick tribesmen have not come down from their mountain homes for treatment.
