The Department of Health Central Office clarified that the two deaths in Siquijor province were not caused by glanders disease as earlier disclosed, but by melioidosis.
DOH Secretary Teddy Herboso, in a national report, clarified that based on DNA analysis of the bacteria it was melioidosis.
Health Undersecretary Mary Ann Maestral said the two cases were tested twice. Genomic sequencing at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine showed that the two were hit with melioidosis, she said.
It is a bacterial infection that infects humans and animals and is often spread through contact with contaminated soil, air or water, according to the US Center for Disease Control.
The DOH Negros Island Region recently reported that the province of Siquijor had six confirmed cases of glanders disease, and that two of the patients died.*