One hundred and forty-three students have fallen ill with
diarrhea after eating lunch at a school in southwest China's Sichuan Province, local health authorities
said Thursday.
The patients, all students of the Yuquan School in Yuquan
Township, Mianzhu City, suffered diarrhea, nausea, vomiting,
bellyache and low fever after eating lunch and went to local
hospitals on Tuesday, a spokesman with the Mianzhu health bureau
said.?
Seventy-three students have been hospitalized and 70 others are
staying at school for observation, the spokesman said.
They are all in stable condition, he said.
Initial investigation shows that most of the sick students ate
lunch at the school dining hall and a few had meals at food booths
nearby the school.
Local health authorities have obtained food samples from the
school dining hall and the food booths, the spokesman said.
The results will come out in a few days, he said.
The Yuquan School has about 1,300 students, including 200
children of the kindergarten. The rest are primary and junior high
school students.
The kindergarten children were not involved in the incident, the
spokesman said.
Local health authorities has ordered an overhaul of the food
safety in all schools of the city, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2006)