Nearly 4,000 cases of cholera have been recorded nationwide since the start of this year, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

A total of 3,980 cholera cases have been logged from Jan. 1 to Oct. 8.

“This is 270 percent higher compared to the reported cases during the same period in 2021 (1,077),” the DOH said on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Most of the cholera cases were recorded in Eastern Visayas with 2,678, Davao region with 441, and Caraga with 289 cases.

The DOH recorded 245 cholera cases from Sept. 11 to Oct. 8 alone. The regions with the highest number of cases during this period were Eastern Visayas with 147, Western Visayas with 51, and Bicol region with 26 cases.

There were 37 people who have also died since January due to the disease–one in January, four in February, five in March, five in April, two in May, two in June, three in July, nine in August, and six in September, the DOH said.

Cholera is an “acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae bacteria. People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Some of its symptoms include watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps, the US CDC said.

In the Philippines, several people still practice open defecation that can lead to contaminated water sources and may cause cholera, said DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Alethea De Guzman.

“Meron pa tayong mga lugar, nag-iigib sila sa balon, minsan, sa river–yung mga bodies of water natin (We still have communities, wherein their source of water are wells, sometimes in the rivers or other bodies of water). These are actually the environmental factors that increase the risk for us getting these water-borne diseases,” she said in a media forum on Wednesday.

De Guzman advised the public to always make sure that their source of water and food are safe and clean.

“It is a personal behavior again, making sure that your water sources and food source is safe. But, it is also a community na kailangan we ensure that our environment is safe para maprevent natin itong mga sakit na ito (that needs to ensure that our environment is safe so that we can prevent these kinds of diseases),” she said.