Donated meal sickens dozens in southern Baghdad, officials say

BAGHDAD — Amiriyat Al-Fallujah General Hospital received 75 cases of food poisoning on Saturday after residents in southern Baghdad ate a donated meal distributed in Yusufiya district, a medical source told 964media.

The source said the cases were transferred from areas of Sadr Al-Yusufiya after a man and a woman traveling in a Kia vehicle handed out rice-based meals to families and children. “Most of those who ate the meal suffered poisoning,” the source said, adding that security forces are continuing to investigate.

The Health Ministry said its facilities received about 100 child poisoning cases in Baghdad and Anbar, with most patients discharged after treatment and no deaths recorded.

Health Ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr said, “Health institutions received about 100 poisoning cases involving children yesterday with varying symptoms,” including 83 cases in Amiriyat Al-Fallujah in Anbar, nine cases at Abu Ghraib emergency units, and six cases at the emergency department of Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad.

“All necessary measures were taken for all cases, and most of them were discharged in improved condition,” al-Badr said. “Most of the cases were gastrointestinal, with other symptoms that improved after receiving the necessary treatment. Some cases are still inside the hospital, and no deaths have been recorded so far.”

Al-Badr said samples were taken for toxicology testing and epidemiological investigation teams were dispatched. “Security forces are also conducting an investigation,” he said, adding that preliminary indications point to food poisoning.

The incident follows other food poisoning outbreaks reported in recent months, including more than 120 hospitalizations in Duhok in late August after meals at a restaurant, 29 cases in Baqubah in September linked to falafel from a newly opened restaurant, and more than 50 cases in Wasit’s Numaniyah district in October, when authorities shut down a cafeteria as part of an investigation.