Ingesting expired or contaminated meat is among the prime possibilities which led to more than 100 pupils at Ikamva Lesizwe Primary School being admitted to the Port Alfred Hospital on Monday afternoon.
Education MEC Fundile Gade’s spokesperson, Vuyiseka Mboxela, said about 120 pupils started feeling sick shortly after they ate their lunch at the Kenton-on-Sea school as part of the school nutrition programme.
She said by Tuesday morning most of the pupils were discharged after they were examined and only some were still being monitored at the hospital.
The pupils were rushed by taxi on Monday to receive medical attention shortly after receiving their lunch which consisted of pap and meat on Monday.
Mboxela said pupils started complaining that they were not feeling well, with several saying they were suffering from stomach aches and started vomiting or experiencing diarrhoea.
The Eastern Cape department of health has since taken medical samples that will be subjected to testing to determine the cause of the pupils falling ill.
District and provincial officials were sent to the school to make sure that pupils received medical attention and that psychosocial services be provided to pupils and parents.
According to Mboxela, no foul play was expected.
“The pupils at the school are served lunch by their parents who were appointed to assist with the feeding programme by the school governing body.
“The food is prepared by parents and the ingredients are also bought by them.
“We cannot say with certainty, but there is a possibility that the pupils might have eaten expired meat,” Mboxela said.
Health department spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase said the tests would take about a week to conclude.
“We are investigating the cause of the outbreak,” he said.
None of the pupils were reported to be critical.
Mboxela said the government had a responsibility to buy food and crops from the surrounding areas.
She said that it was the first time that the department had to deal with such an incident in the district.
The cause of the pupils’ sickness would be made public as soon as they received the medical reports.
In October, more than 70 pupils at a school in Port St Johns were rushed to the hospital following suspected poisoning.
The pupils allegedly ate fruit that had been donated to them.
HeraldLIVE