Tudela folk ‘poisoned’ by lechon now okay

CEBU, Philippines - No more additional admission of person suffering from diarrhea was recorded yesterday in a district hospital in San Francisco town, Camotes Island.

Loudivina Garciano, emergency room nurse at the Ricardo Maningo Memorial Hospital, reported that two of the four patients admitted on Wednesday have been discharged yesterday morning, while the two others were made to stay pending the examination of their stool.

She, nevertheless, said that all patients were already in good conditions.

“Wa na man po’y na-admit lain… Kining duha nahabilin pwede na man g’yud kagawas. But amo gihapong i-monitor,” Garciano said over the phone.

A total of 50 persons in Tudela town, neighboring town of San Francisco, complained of upset stomach and diarrhea after eating lechon, which was sold to the family of construction workers of the town’s civic center.

The victims claimed that the food was not properly roasted as blood could still be seen on its bones. The meat also reportedly appeared darkish.

The Provincial Health Office sent yesterday a team to look into the incident and collect sample from the possible sources of contamination.

PHO assistant head Mario Joyag, however, said he has not yet received feedback from the team as of this writing. He is not discounting the possibility that the diarrhea cases were caused by contamination on the food the victims consumed.

“Contaminated siguro ang food unya wa natarong og pagluto,” he said.

He reiterated his earlier statement that they could not yet conclude that the case was a food poisoning until a thorough investigation on the incident is conducted.

In a separate interview, Tudela Mayor Erwin Yu said the town has distributed medicines to the victims and would shoulder the hospital expenses of those who were admitted in San Francisco hospital.

He added that the municipality would also talk with the lechon seller. — Michael Vencynth H. Braga/NSA(FREEMAN)