AMMAN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities said the situation was
improving with only dozens of new cases admitted on Sunday, raising the total
number of suspected food poisoning cases in northern Jordan's Jerash Governorate
to 338, The Jordan Times reported on Monday.
Yousef Qoqazeh, director of Jerash Public Hospital, was quoted as saying
that only 10 citizens were still receiving treatment in the hospital out of the
52 who were admitted on Saturday.
"The patients' conditions are stable and they are expected to be discharged
within 24 hours," said Qoqazeh.
On Friday, hundreds of residents in the village of Sakeb, suffering from
fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, were rushed toJerash Public Hospital with
authorities initially blaming the problem on food poisoning from a local
restaurant, which was closed down as a precautionary measure.¡¡
Jerash Governor Ali Azzam said initial tests carried out on potable water
samples taken from the village turned out negative.
"We also sent hummos and water samples to the National Laboratories in
Amman and to the King Abdullah I Hospital in Irbidto carry out more
sophisticated tests to determine the cause of the incident," he said, adding
that results normally need 48 to 72hours.
This is the third such case over the past four months. In July, around
1,000 people from a village near Mafraq were sent to hospital for drinking
contaminated tap water, which caused the resignation of the water and health
ministers at the time.
In August, 176 people were treated for salmonella poisoning after eating
shawerma sandwiches from a restaurant in the Baqaa refugee camp north of Amman.
Shawerma stalls were closed immediately all over Jordan and started to reopen
after proving they were taking new measures required by the health authorities.
