HANOI, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Seven people from Vietnam's capital city Hanoi have been hospitalized over the past three days after showing acute diarrhea symptoms, according to local newspaper Youth on Friday.

    All the suspected cases of acute diarrhea ate dishes either made from raw materials or sold at small street-side shops before developing the symptoms. Their specimens are being tested by the country's National Hygiene and Epidemiology.

    Local experts have warned that acute diarrhea can strike Vietnam in the coming time, although the disease's outbreak in the country was announced to have ended on Dec. 25, 2007.

    Between last October and December, acute diarrhea was reported in 13 provinces and cities in Vietnam. Hanoi suffered the most with a majority of cases, few of which were tested positive to cholera virus.