13 Hospitalized After Eating Infected Beef

13 hospitalized after eating infected beef

SURIN: -- Thirteen people in Thailand's north-eastern province of Surin have been hospitalized after eating infected beef, with three said to be in critical conditions due to severe dehydration.

Of the 13 residents of Baan Khok Lao in Sikhoraphum district who received hospital treatment after reporting severe diarrhoea and vomiting, seven have been discharged.

Local administrative officials said that the beef eaten by the afflicted villagers had come from cattle which had died due to a stomach infection.

Dr. Methi Muanthaisong, Director ofr Sikhoraphum Hospital, said that three of the patients had suffered from severe dehydration as a result of their conditions, and were not yet out of danger.

Doctors are now subjecting samples of the victims’ faeces to laboratory analysis, and hope to have determined the cause of the infection within three days.

Meanwhile, local livestock officials have sprayed disinfectant around the abattoir where the cattle were killed, and have urged local cattle farmers to inform them immediately if they discover that their animals are suffering from diarrhoea.

--TNA 2005-06-09