‘No Salmonella bacteria in food sample that hospitalized 19 students’

On July 4, Mr. Do Tan Thanh, Deputy Head of the Food Safety and Hygiene Department of Gia Lai Province, affirmed that there was not enough evidence to conclude that the hospitalization of 19 students from Chi Lang High School (Pleiku City) after a meal was a case of food poisoning. Currently, authorities have not yet made a final conclusion on the incident.

On June 15, Chi Lang High School organized a meal in the collective kitchen for 400 people (including 345 students studying for the high school graduation exam and 55 teachers, staff and workers of the school). The meal included rice noodles, sticky rice (morning); rice, fried pork ribs, pennywort soup, stir-fried cabbage (lunch); rice, fried chicken, sweet cabbage soup, stir-fried cabbage (evening).

On weekends, the school also allows parents to bring outside food for students.

Investigation results showed that out of 400 people who ate the food, 19 people (students) had abdominal pain, diarrhea, and mild fever. Analysis of samples from the above patients did not detect Salmonella bacteria.

In addition, food samples sent to the Central Highlands Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for testing also did not contain any bacteria causing food poisoning.

As for the pennywort soup sample, the E.coli bacteria exceeded the allowable limit. However, it was not enough to identify the E.coli strain in the food, said a representative of the provincial Food Safety and Hygiene Department.

Meanwhile, on June 29, Hoang Anh Gia Lai University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital said that the results from the samples showed that the students were infected with E.coli bacteria. The Central Highlands Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology stated that the patients’ symptoms were mild and did not match the symptoms according to specialized documents on the group of E.coli bacteria that cause the disease.

“The sample tested positive for E.coli but the pathogenic strain could not be isolated. The results were only identification, not quantification, so there was not enough basis to conclude that E.coli was the cause,” said the institute representative.