BISHKEK, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Fourteen people, including four children, were hospitalized after a mass botulism food poisoning outbreak in southern Kyrgyzstan, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.
It said three of them are in a serious condition. An epidemiological investigation has been conducted and all patients have received the anti-botulinum serum.
The first case of food poisoning in the city of Uzgen in the Osh region was reported on March 11. According to preliminary data, the poisoning occurred due to eating homemade canned vegetable salad.
A month earlier, 17 people in southern Kyrgyzstan were hospitalized for the same reason. Two of the seven children affected died in that outbreak.
