By Loushe Jordaan Gilbert
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) announced that a chemical agent is responsible the recent food poisoning outbreak that has affected several learners in Gauteng.
This year, the Gauteng Health Department has recorded 203 incidents of food poisoning, including six fatalities. About a week ago, 35 students in Limpopo received treatment for probable food poisoning.
Speaking on VOC Breakfast on Tuesday the department’s national spokesperson, Foster Mohale said the recent wave of unexpected food-related illnesses and fatalities, particularly in schools, is alarming.
“We are really concerned about these incidents; several provinces have experienced this, and we are urging all key role players to unite behind the call to work together to avoid this from spiraling out of control. We need to do thorough investigations to find out what the root cause of these outbreaks are,” he added.
Foster further said that the South African Police Services are also investigating the matter.
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