Sea snails poison 60 on coast

The poor preparation of sea snails served at a local market has been blamed for almost 60 cases of food poisoning in Thang Binh District in Quang Nam central province during the past week.
The outbreak quickly pushed the price of snails down in the area from VND4,000 to VND2,000 a kilo. Oc ruoc, a colourful sea snail the size of a button is believed to be the mollusc involved.
Many of the 600 or so local snail-raking fishermen were forced to stop work because no one was prepared to buy their catch.
Many of the victims were treated at Thang Binh District General Hospital. Others who had been poisoned visited local health centres or were visited by nurses at home Nguyen Thi Hua, a 10th-grade student from Binh Tu Commune, said she ate a handful of the snails at local market. At night, she writhed in her bed with stomach-ache and was rushed to hospital.
A doctor at the Thang Binh emergency ward said all patients who were hospitalised suffered from vomiting, diarrhoea and high temperatures. Most came from Binh Tu Commune.
"It's the first time the hospital has received such a mass of oc ruoc-poisoning cases," the doctor said. "In some cases, the whole family was poisoned."
Almost all patients left hospital after one day of treatment."
The actual number of sufferers is believed to be higher than reported because some patients were given first-aid at the commune and at local health centres.
Binh Tri Commune's health centre, which has only two beds, had to treat more than 10 cases a day. Some families were treated at home by nurses.
Doctor Doan Van Sen, director of Thang Binh District's Preventive Medicine Centre, said oc ruoc was a popular food in the region and it was the first time poisoning had been reported on such a scale.
"I myself and colleagues have eaten oc ruoc. In my opinion, the snail itself is not the cause. As most patients said they had eaten oc ruoc at the market, the preparation of the snails is probably to blame.
Doctors at Thang Binh hospital agreed that unhygienic processing at restaurants at the market caused the poisoning. Other recent cases were reported after people ate cuttle-fish and vegetables.
However, as no testing was carried out by preventive medical authorities, no firm conclusions can be made on just how the outbreak was caused.
Director Doan Van Sen has advised those preparing snails to wash their hands before meals and after urinating and defecating.