Life & Health

Days after Ministry of Health and Population cautioned Nepalis to protect themselves from food poisoning while enjoying wedding feasts, a shocking incident of mass food poisoning has come to light from Nawalpur.

There, nearly 300 party-goers fell ill after enjoying a wedding feast organised at Chitwan Garden Resort, Gaidakot, Nawalpur. They were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals.

The incident happened on Friday, and by now most patients have recovered, according to Dr Bikram Adhikari at National City Hospital, Bharatpur, which handled most of the patients.

Following mass food poisoning, over 110 patients had been admitted at the hospital, he said, adding that most patients showed symptoms of diarrhoea, fever and vomiting.

Dr Adhikari told NepalMinute.com: “If more than 10 people get sick after eating from the same batch of food, we regard it as food poisoning.”

The incident followed a similar incident in Palpa where 138 wedding revellers had to be rushed to healthcare facilities after mass food poisoning.

That prompted the Ministry of Health to send medics to the site and issue a public advisory cautioning Nepalis to take care while enjoying wedding feasts. A preliminary investigation blamed use of contaminated water from a local canal for the mass poisoning in Palpa.

The Ministry is yet to probe the Nawalpur incident.

But Dr Adhikari said: “We need to test either food or faeces to determine if it has a microbial cause.”

The patients included 250 people from the groom’s side and the rest from the bride’s side according to local media.

Even the bride and groom suffered from diarrhoea.

Adhikari said: “Almost all now left the hospital after the treatment,” adding, “Hygiene must be maintained during such large dining preparations.”