At least 24 people from Nkhata Bay, including four children, who suffered from food poisoning have been discharged from Mzuzu Central Hospital (MCH) where authorities attributed the incident to poor hygiene.

In an interview, MCH spokesperson Arnold Kayira said the hospital conducted several investigations to determine whether the cases resulted from specific organisms or chemical poisoning.

“After receiving the cases, we took samples and conducted different investigations. We discovered that this was caused by bacteria and not what people were speculating.

“When the bacteria contaminate the food, they produce toxins which leads the body to react and a person starts vomiting and develops diarrhea,” he said.

Mzuzu Central Hospital treated the patients

Kayira said this resulted from poor hygiene of the place where the food was prepared.

Nkhata Bay District Council spokesperson Peter Botha said the patients ate food at a local restaurant that had overstayed.

“We also encourage all food producers, including those in the hospitality industry such as restaurants and lodges to always observe hygiene,” Botha said, adding that the incident is a wakeup call to all stakeholders in the district’s health, trade and hospitality industries.

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