School hostel's kitchen, canteen closed for probe and disinfection

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) --  The kitchen and canteen of the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Bintang Utara hostel will be closed temporarily for further investigations and to disinfect the premises under  the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.

Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Federal Territory Health Department director Dr Zainuddin Abdul Wahab said that the premises which was closed after some of its students suffered from food poisoning on Sept 21, would only reopen after improvements are made by the school authorities.

"Clinical samples and food consumed by the students were taken by the Cheras Health Office and sent to the laboratory for analysis and further investigations are still being made to identify the cause of the incident," he said in a statement.

Last Friday, 10 students from the school who had abdominal pains, diarrhoea and vomiting were rushed to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment. Another 82 other students had the same symptoms but their condition was under control.

The 10 students are now stable.

Dr Zainuddin said nasi lemak with sambal and eggs served to the students for breakfast at the hostel canteen, was believed to be the cause of the food poisoning.

He advised the public not to worry about the incident and said that steps should be taken to look, smell and taste before consuming food, to avoid food poisoning.

-- BERNAMA