MANILA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A suspected choleraoutbreak has killed 20 people and sickened 127 others in the remote villages of southern Philippine province Sultan Kudarat and is likely to affect more people living in the area with suspected water or food contamination, a senior Philippine Red Cross official said Thursday.

"It is the eighth day since the first report of suspected cholera case and the situation is a bit serious," Gwendolyn T. Pang, Assistant Secretary of Philippine National Red Cross, told Xinhua.

She said the Red Cross officials in the town of Palimbang only reported 60 cases on Wednesday but the figure jumped to more than 120 by Thursday morning.

Pang said health experts from the Department of Health are still verifying whether the cases are indeed cholera, with most of the patients showing signs of diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration.

She said except for the most serious patients, people who reported suspected cholera syndromes are staying at home, as there is no hospital in the five villages that are affected by the suspected outbreak.

Pang said there are 10 Red Cross volunteers at the field providing medical assistance to the patients and more are being sent to the area. Tests of contamination of water and food are under way, she said.

Cholera is a severe gastrointestinal disease often caused by contaminated water or food.
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