DOH: Second peacekeeper falls ill on Caballo Island

Another Filipino peacekeeper currently on Caballo Island in Cavite has fallen ill, a report from GMA's “Balita Pilipinas” program said Tuesday.

According to Department of Health (DOH) spokesperson Lyndon Lee-Suy, the peacekeeper has a sore throat.

“Wala naman,” Lee-Suy said when asked if the peacekeeper has shown symptoms of Ebola. “Binabantayan natin siya. Inisolate natin. Ayaw natin na baka may biglang lumitaw na sintomas at naka expose siya,” Lee-Suy said.

“Nagrerespond naman 'yung pasyente doon sa gamutan na inumpisahan na doon ng ating doctors na naka stand-by sa lugar,” he added.

Lee-Suy also said they will not bring the peacekeeper to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine unless his condition gets worse.

Meanwhile, Lee-Suy said the other peacekeeper who was diagnosed with malaria after experiencing fever and chills is getting better.

“'Yun namang nagka malaria na peacekeeper nagrerespond din po siya sa sa anti-malaria medicine na binibigay natin. Every now and then minomonitor ang kanyang dugo...” he said.

“Bumaba na 'yung bilang at hinihintay talaga natin na mag level ng zero 'yung parasites sa kanyang sistema,” Lee-Suy added.

On Saturday, the DOH announced that the first peacekeeper who fell ill was negative for the ebola virus but positive for malaria.

At least a hundred peacekeepers were brought under a 21-day quarantine period in Caballo Island after arriving from Liberia as a safety precaution against the ebola virus.