People being treated for food poisoning. Representative image.
PTI File Photo
Kolhapur: More than 450 persons fell ill due to suspected food poisoning after attending a village fair in western Maharashtra's Kolhapur district, police said on Wednesday.
About 50 persons were undergoing treatment at hospital at Shirol at present and the condition of all of them was said to be stable, said an official of Kurundwad police station.
A fair had been organised at Shivnakwadi village on Tuesday where ‘kheer’, a sweet preparation made from milk, was served as ‘prasad’, he said.
“People started complaining of diarrhoea, nausea and fever since this morning. So far, 450 people have fallen sick due to suspected food poisoning. Most of them are claiming that they had ‘kheer’ at the fair. But there were food stalls too,” the police official said.
Concerned that 250 people had taken ill by Wednesday afternoon, health officials conducted house-to-house surveys and identified several more cases, raising the total to 450, he said
More than 50 persons were undergoing treatment at the hospital and the rest were discharged, he said, adding that all the admitted patients were stable.
“Food samples from the fair have been sent to the forensic laboratory to ascertain if it was food poisoning,” said the official.