Health workers from the Rural Health Unit of the South Upi local government attend to a child affected by a suspected case of food poisoning on Thursday. (Photo courtesy of Amaialiah Mayordomo)
COTABATO CITY — At least 80 people, mostly children, complained of abdominal pain and dizziness in a suspected case of food poisoning after eating chicken cooked with coconut milk at a traditional wedding ceremony in a remote village in Maguindanao del Sur on Thursday on Friday, authorities said. on Friday.
South Upi Mayor Reynalbert Insular said of the 80 patients, 49 remained at the community hospital but are now in stable condition.
The patients were invited during “Uyot,” a traditional wedding ritual of the Teduray indigenous tribe in Barangay Pandan, South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur.
Insular said hundreds of Teduray people from Pandan and Kigan villages attended the tribal wedding at 3pm on April 24.
“Three of those who remained in the hospital are children aged 12 or younger,” Insular said in the vernacular.
Rebecca Tenorio, a nurse at the South Upi Municipal Hospital, said other patients were transferred to the Datu Blah Sinsuat District Hospital in the neighboring town of Upi in Maguindanao del Norte.
Local health authorities are still conducting an investigation.
“I encourage everyone to be extremely careful during food preparation to avoid similar incidents in the future,” Insular said.
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