3 Hong Kong schools with gastroenteritis outbreaks went to same restaurants on tours

The students and teachers from three Hong Kong schools who suffered gastroenteritis symptoms after going on separate exchange tours in Shaoguan, Guangdong could have fallen sick after eating contaminated food in the same restaurants, authorities have said.

The Centre for Health Protection said the number of students and teachers from the three schools who were unwell remained at 52 as of Tuesday, as authorities continued to investigate a slew of potential mass food-poisoning events.

“The Centre for Health Protection could not rule out the possibility that some of the cases were infected by consuming contaminated food and has notified the Guangdong authority of the relevant restaurants,” it said, noting that participants of all three exchange tours had dined at the same restaurants.

“Separately, a case vomited during the visit and more teachers and students subsequently fell ill after returning to Hong Kong. In this context, some of the cases may have been infected through person-to-person transmission or a contaminated environment,” it added.

Teachers and students from Lok Sin Tong Ku Chiu Man Secondary School and TWGHs Chen Zao Men College went on different exchange tours to the same location in Shaoguan on March 3 to 4 and March 6 to 7, respectively.

“Including the cluster announced yesterday [March 10], a total of 52 teachers and students developed AGE symptoms from March 3 to 10. Sixteen of them sought medical attention and none required hospitalisation,” the centre said.