Shania Shayal Prasad 
[File Photo]
The diarrheal outbreak in Balevuto, Ba continues to escalate, as the Health Ministry is currently seeing four to five new cases per day as opposed to 0 to two cases per day prior to this outbreak.
The Health Ministry confirms that investigations into the increase in cases of diarrheal disease remain ongoing, as 72 cases presenting with loose bowel motions, with or without blood in the stool, with fever, abdominal pain, or vomiting were reported in the past four weeks.
These cases were from Nukuloa, Balevuto, Nacaci, Toge, Vatusui, Tabataba, Naruku, Talaiya, and Moto.
As of September 11, seven out of 18 people admitted to the hospital had been discharged.
One suspected case has tested positive for Shigella sonnei, a type of bacteria that is spread through the feces of infected people and that is known to cause outbreaks of acute diarrheal illness.
The Ministry adds that further specialized testing of patient samples will be done at a reference laboratory in Melbourne.
Four teams are on the ground actively monitoring the situation, and contingency plans are in place to expedite or escalate our response if necessary.
Chemical analysis of tap water from the water supply scheme providing tap water to over 6,000 residents conducted by Koronivia Research Station shows all chemicals are within the normal range for drinking water standards.
The MoH also states that the Ba Medical team is collecting samples from alternative sources such as tanks and boreholes for analysis at the Fiji CDC.
