The Svay Rieng provincial Department of Health and the Ministry of Health on Wednesday were continuing their search for the cause of a food poisoning outbreak in Bavet town, where at least 24 victims were taken ill with vomiting and diarrhoea.
There were 13 women and 11 men among the 24 – four of whom are Chinese nationals – according to ministry spokesman Ly Sovann.
Sovann told The Post that cases of food poisoning were first reported in the early hours of Monday morning.
“The food poisoning has not proved fatal for any of the affected,” he said.
The 24 were all employees of Funny KTV located in Bavet Kandal village in Bavet town’s Bavet commune.
They were sent to private hospital Sophorn Ou Wang for treatment and made a complete recovery, said provincial Department of Health director Ke Ratha.
Ratha said a doctor at the hospital speculated that the poisoning was caused by “chemicals found in the food”.
“However, we don’t know whether the poisoning was caused by the noodles or the cabbage, as all the waste was thrown away after the night of the incident,” he said.
Morn Sakan, 46, who was among the 24 affected and is a staff at Funny KTV, said the group had eaten noodles mixed with cabbage bought from a market in town.
“Having eaten the noodles, in just one hour we all suffered from nausea, dizziness and difficulty breathing. Seeing our condition, a KTV supervisor sent us to hospital immediately. For now, we have completely recovered,” she said.
Sakan speculated that the cabbage they consumed contained “insecticides”.
Sovann called on residents in the area to pay attention to health and sanitation issues.
“Clean vegetables before they are cooked to wash away poisonous chemicals. Hands are also to be washed before having a meal,” he said.
