ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Health authorities are baffled by an unknown sickness that hit a coastal village in Zamboanga del Norte province that has already killed four people and hospitalized 19 others.
The 19 people are all residents of Mantibo village in Sibuco town and are admitted at the Zamboanga City Medical Center.
The 19 patients suffered swollen lower limbs but doctors could not give any diagnoses yet as of this posting.
The patients complained of pain and numbness in their lower extremities, cramps, loss of appetite and vomiting.
Sibuco town Mayor Bong Edding has recommended the conduct of laboratory test to determine what disease struck the village.
Hospital authorities could not exactly diagnose the kind of ailment the villagers are suffering pending the conduct of laboratory analysis.
Health officials said there had been similar cases in the past but patients came from different places, not like the case of Sibuco town where all the patients are from Mantibo village.
Edding ordered the municipal health officer to check if there are still residents in Mantibo who are suffering the same kind of ailment but were not brought to the hospital.
Edding described Mantibo, which is a coastal village, as a typical normal village where there are not many activities like mining and other that may cause the sickness.
The village of Mantibo has close to a thousand residents, Edding said.(Sunnex)
