Tuesday, March 25, 2008 After eating lechon, seafood, 23 fall ill
A GROUP of vacationers in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island, Cebu suffered from diarrhea and started vomiting last Sunday night.
Police believe the lechon and seafood the group ate on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday were the causes.
SPO4 Felix Lapera of the Sta. Fe Police Station said he sent his men to get samples of the food but there were no leftovers.
Of the 23 people who ate the food, eight were confined at the island’s hospital.
A nurse at the Bantayan District Hospital said none of the eight were transferred to Cebu City, adding that some of them are well enough to be released.
The victims were invited by relatives in Sta. Fe, who prepared lechon, kasag (crabs), kinhason (shell) and fish dishes on the evening of Maundy Thursday.
They held their outing at the Tinong’s Beach Resort in Barangay Talisay, a public beach.
The next day, the group ate the rest of the leftovers. That night, some of them began to experience stomachaches.
But it was on Black Saturday that they began vomiting and suffered from diarrhea.
Confined at the Bantayan District Hospital are Lucia Pasilan, 63; Flora Mae Pasilan, 19; Aldrin Pasilan, 10; Mirasol Ilustrisimo, 24; Marvin Ilustrisimo, 23; Chin-chin Placencia, 15; Bombe Beltran, 46; and Dina Buna, 48.
Not serious
A nurse at the hospital said none of them are considered serious cases.
However, of the eight, the Pasilan family suffered the most.
SPO4 Lapera said 15 other relatives from Cebu decided to seek treatment at hospitals in the mainland and went home that same day.
He would have wanted his men to get a sample of the leftover food to have these examined so they would know what caused the poisoning.
He surmised that the leftovers were already spoiled when the group ate these the next day.
But because the food was prepared Thursday yet, they could not gather any samples as all of the food had been consumed.
He said they coordinated with the staff of the Bantayan District Hospital but they also could not determine which of the dishes caused the poisoning. (MEA)
