DANAO CITY, Cebu, Philippines — The Department of Health (DoH) in Central Visayas is closely monitoring the rising incidents of diarrhea in this city after at least 120 persons, kids and adults alike, were hit with the ailment over the weekend.

Publio Piedad of the Danao Health Department said personnel from the regional office of the DoH have arrived in this city to check on the conditions of the patients. Of the 120 persons who were rushed to the hospital, 70 of them remained under treatment.

Piedad said the local health office got alarmed because of the “unusual” number of diarrhea cases in just a short period of time. He said health officials are now tracing the source of the illness although the DoH 7 said the illness could be caused by contaminated water.

Regional DoH 7 Director Susana Madarieta said 25 beds in the Danao District Hospital were fully occupied by diarrhea patients. Most of the victims were from Barangay Tabok, Danao City.

Rennan Cimafranca of the Regional Epidemiological Surveillance Unit said they still don't have a definite number of victims to declare an outbreak.

“We are encouraging people to boil drinking water to be sure that it is safe for drinking,” said Cimafranca.

He also advised residents to observe proper storage of drinking water since water tanks could be contaminated if there are undetected leaks.

Cimafranca said they ruled out food sources as a carrier since there was no mass distribution of food in the four barangays hit by diarrhea. Rather, he pointed out, poorly managed water supply systems may be contaminated with rainwater runoff containing fecal content.

Cimafranca said diarrhea cases are usually sporadic and difficult to monitor, though the usual transmission is through food and water.

One of the patients admitted in the hospital for diarrhea, Jumar Casas, said it is possible that he was affected by contaminated water because the food he has been eating of late was well-cooked. (Mars W. Mosqueda Jr.)