A HEALTH official in South Cotabato confirmed that a fresh case of filariasis (also called elephantiasis) was recently discovered in a remote sitio in Koronadal City. South Cotabato was declared 'filaria-free' in 2013 and 'malaria-free' in 2017.

Jose Barroquillo Jr., sanitation inspector 4 of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) and provincial mosquito-borne disease coordinator, disclosed on Monday that an individual in Sitio El Lalam, Assumption village tested positive of filariasis parasite during a nocturnal blood smearing conducted among 38 residents last Friday.