On July 8, the Food Safety Department (Dak Lak Provincial Department of Health) said that the unit had a quick report on the initial investigation and verification results related to the case of many students suspected of food poisoning that occurred at Hoang Viet Primary, Secondary and High School (Tan An ward, Dak Lak province).
According to the report, on July 3, the Department of Health received information that some students had symptoms such as headache, dizziness, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and had to be hospitalized for treatment at Tay Nguyen Regional General Hospital and Buon Ma Thuot University Medical Center Hospital.
Immediately after that, the Department of Health coordinated with the Economic Police Department, Dak Lak Provincial Police to establish a working group to investigate and verify the cause of the incident.
Through verification at Tay Nguyen Regional General Hospital and Buon Ma Thuot University Medical Center Hospital, by 2 pm on July 4, functional agencies recorded 18 suspected food poisoning cases being treated. Patients all showed symptoms of fever, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The earliest onset was recorded at around 5 pm on July 2.
Initial investigation results show that all 18 cases were related to lunch on July 2 at the collective kitchen of Hoang Viet Primary, Secondary and High School.
According to the school, the collective kitchen serves about 2,200 students and officials and teachers. By the morning of July 3, some students showed symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea and were taken to the medical room for monitoring. After that, many other students also showed similar symptoms, so the school informed parents to take them to medical facilities for examination.
Initial diagnosis results at hospitals determined that the students had gastroenteritis, bacterial intestinal infections. However, the causative agent has not yet been identified.
During the investigation, the working group inspected the conditions to ensure food safety at the collective kitchen; reviewed legal documents on the origin of raw materials, the three-step inspection process and the storage of food samples according to the regulations of the Ministry of Health.
At the same time, functional forces took 5 food samples from the lunch on July 2, including: grilled pork belly with sesame seeds, grilled beef with sesame seeds, rolled eggs, stir-fried sweet mustard greens and pumpkin soup to send to the Tay Nguyen Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for testing, serving the work of determining the cause.
As of July 8, the Department of Health of Dak Lak province said that it had not yet received the test results from the Tay Nguyen Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. Functional agencies are continuing to monitor and wait for test results to have a basis for concluding the cause of the incident and handling it according to regulations.
