At least 79 people from a small village in Phayao province have ended up in hospital after they ate a raw beef salad that turned out to contain raw buffalo meat.
The affected villagers, from Dongjen district in Phayao, had been taken to the local hospital following symptoms of food poisoning including vomiting and diarrhea.
Local rescue teams were called to several homes on the night of Sunday, May 24th, and the early hours of Monday, May 25th, as calls flooded in from ill patients.
As more people continued to admit into the hospital, doctors discovered they had all eaten the same raw beef salad sold at a local market, with some people purchasing the meat to eat at home while others had eaten dishes from the stall containing the meat.
Officials from the local Public Health Office were alerted to the situation and went to inspect the meat stalls in the local market where they took samples of the raw beef used in the salad and for takeaway.
Upon testing the samples collected, officials discovered that the meat was in fact from a buffalo and had been delivered to several stalls at the Tha Wang Thong Fresh Market by the same vendor.
It was this meat that had led to numerous cases of food poisoning in the village. Officials are currently investigating the source of the meat and have taken samples for further analysis.
They have also warned people to avoid eating raw meat including beef as there is a high chance of food poisoning due to the hot weather and meat being left out for long periods of time.
Source: Khaosod
