MANILA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ten people, including an 11-month infant, have so far died in a diarrhea outbreak in Balabac, an island town in Palawan in southern Philippines, health authorities said on Tuesday.
Balabac town was hit by a diarrhoea outbreak for nearly two months now, initially downing some 200 residents.
Authorities blamed the outbreak on contaminated drinking water that tested positive for coliform and poor sanitation due to the presence of E. coli, or Escherichia coli bacteria from human and animal waste, in the town's water table.
"Almost all of the water sources in Balabac proper are not fit for drinking after they tested positive for coliform," provincial health officer Mary Ann Navarro said in an interview with local newspaper Palawan News.
In September 2017, a diarrhea outbreak also hit Quezon town in Palawan for the same cause. It is reported that four people died and over 600 were hospitalized at that time.