Ninety-two students at a primary school in southwest China's Sichuan Province are thought to have developed
food poisoning on Sunday, among whom 23 have been hospitalized,
confirmed a local official.
The pupils, all from the Cangxi County's? Pengdian Central
Primary School, have developed symptoms of fever, headache,
stomachache and diarrhea, with some suffering from nausea and
vomiting, according to Huang Tingquan, vice head of the county, who
noted that the test result shall come out tomorrow.
The 23 hospitalized students are in stable condition, but will
receive medical treatment for several days, said local sources.
The first case was reported on Thursday afternoon and no similar
cases were reported outside the school. The Pengdian Central
Primary School is located in the mountainous area 90 kilometers
away from the county government. Among all its 780 students, 621
live on campus, including the 92 ill.
The Cangxi government has installed a daily case reporting
system, given all other students and staff preventive medicine and
ordered a thorough disinfection of the school's dining hall.
Earlier this week, food poisoning killed one girl and afflicted
another 459 students in the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang,
Shaanxi and Hubei.
(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2006)