Another food poisoning 11 Korean students down after eating fried chicken

ILOILO CITY, Philippines —  Another food poisoning happened in this city Wednesday afternoon when 11 Korean students of an English language tutorial school here were hospitalized after eating fried chicken the night before.

The incident came almost two weeks since the Dakasi Milk Tea House food poisoning incident that claimed one life and hospitalized 57 others after drinking milk tea with egg pudding.

The new victims, some of whom were identified as Kim Yeo, Lee Jeong Hoon, Kim Urim, Yi Gukhwa and Kyung Mo Kim, also complained of severe stomach ache, diarrhea and vomiting before they were rushed to the St. Paul's Hospital in the city.

DOH-6 chief epidemiologist Glenn Alonsabe said samples of the suspected food eaten by the victims were sent for laboratory tests at the DOH's Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, in the case of the Dakasi food poisoning, Alonsabe confirmed that the rectal swab samples taken from four victims tested positive for salmonella bacteria or e-coli.

He said it was suspected that the egg pudding, commonly known as leche flan, in the milk tea products consumed by the victims may have been contaminated by salmonella.

Salmonella is common in poultry eggs. It can be eliminated if the egg is cooked at 75 degrees centigrade for 10 minutes.

This bacteria found in the feces of cold- and warm-blooded animals (including humans) and in the environment that cause illnesses such as typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever.  (FREEMAN)