Saturday, December 08, 2007 Lunch downs 58 By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A FUNERAL service in Barangay Buhisan, Cebu City ended in a visit to the hospital, after at least 58 residents fell ill allegedly because of food poisoning.
Jose Quiquiles, 70, his children and other relatives did not make it to his wife’s burial yesterday noon because they had to be rushed to the hospital after they started vomiting, which they blamed on the meat they ate for lunch.
The incident left only around five people to attend their kin’s funeral service, Buhisan Councilor Maria Luisa Moreno said.
Even the family’s dogs and the hearse’s driver were not spared.
Those admitted at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) said they started to feel dizzy immediately after eating the pork with vegetables that a relative prepared for those who would join the funeral service.
At least eight others were reportedly brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital.
“Wala’y singko minutos sukad mi nangaon mura na dayon ug giukay among tiyan. Gatubod among laway unya nisuka na dayon ang mga bata unya kami na dayon. Hasta ang mga iro na nakakaon nisuka sad (Less than five minutes after we had some pork, we started to feel nauseous. The children threw up first, and then we did. Even the dogs fell ill),” said Josephine Largo, 32.
All 58 patients, most of whom were related, complained of vomiting, headache, dizziness and abdominal pain.
Nineteen of those taken to CCMC are children one to 17 years old, while the other 39 patients are 18 to 70 years old.
The emergency room was cramped with patients who were hooked up to dextrose bags to replenish their fluids, as others stood in the hallways with their children, who were also given fluids intravenously.
“No one is in a critical condition. They are all stable but they will continue to be under observation while they are still on dextrose. We have given them supportive medication and replacement of fluids,” CCMC Chief Myrna Go told reporters yesterday afternoon.
The patients also had a complete blood count and potassium test shortly after they arrived at the hospital past 1 p.m.
Josefina Largo, 42, said she did not notice anything unusual with the five kilos of meat she bought at the Punta Princesa public market yesterday early morning. The meat looked fresh and smelled fine, she said.
She prepared the dish in the same way she does during family gatherings, and cooked it with cornstarch, potatoes, carrots, chayote, onions and garlic.
In an interview at the CCMC emergency room, Largo said she did not expect that the food she prepared would cause illness among her relatives and neighbors and keep them from attending her aunt’s burial.
“Gilapwaan man gyud to nako ug maayo unya ginagmay pagkaluto. Wala man say baho ang baboy, presko man tan-awn unya mao na lang to akong nakitan na nagsige nag suka ang mga bisita, dayon ako na sad ug akong bana (I boiled and cooked the meat well. It looked fresh. I was stunned to see the guests fall ill, and my husband and I got sick too),” she shared.
Go said they cannot conclude yet whether or not the meat caused the food poisoning since the Cebu City Health Department still has to run some tests.
Moreno said some of the patients also ate noodles, and that may have also caused the illness. (LCR)
