By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Kabankalan City health officials, along with the mayor, recently declared a measles outbreak in the city, following the release of lab results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine that found three patients testing positive for the virus.

In a radio interview yesterday morning, Kabankalan City Mayor Isidro Zayco said he declared the outbreak based on guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH), in which an outbreak is declared even if there is only one case of measles recorded.

Zayco said they are continuing the distribution of measles vaccines to city barangays, especially in Barangay Camugao, where the three measles patients are presently residing.

Aside the three, another case was reported in the neighboring town of Cauayan.

Earlier, DOH declared an ongoing outbreak in Negros Oriental.

Among the towns and cities affected by the outbreak include Bacong, Dumaguete City, Mabinay, San Jose, Santa Catalina, Siaton, and Valencia.

The provincial DOH head said he believes the measles cases in the province may have been sparked by children who were not immunized or whose immunizations were “incomplete.”

The Negros Occidental Provincial Health Office, meanwhile, initiated “catch-up immunizations” to counter the virus./DGB, WDJ