Eighteen agricultural workers, mostly women, from Malayampattu village near West Arani in Tiruvannamalai fell ill due to suspected food poisoning after drinking a fruit mix, brought by their landlord S. Kumaresan. They are in stable condition.
Of the 18 affected persons, including two children, 15 were treated at a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the village for fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and body pain, and three were discharged, health officials said. Of those who were treated, 12 were shifted to the Government Taluk Hospital in Arani town on Tuesday for further treatment.
Mr. Kumarasen engaged around 30 workers from Malayampattur, Mullipattu, Vadugasathu, Kuppam, Kamakkur and West Arani for sowing paddy on his 10-hectare cultivable land. It was on Monday afternoon during lunch break when he brought packets of fruit mix juice for his workers. After returning from work on Monday evening, 18 persons including two children, complained of vomiting, fever, diarrhoea and body pain. Those admitted to the hospital were being monitored by a team of doctors, officials said. A case has been registered against the shop owner by Kalambur police.
The affected persons are K. Malliga, 40, S. Kumaran, 51, S. Tamil, 26, P. Kanniammal, 50, M. Suhasini, 19, P. Poongavanam, 50, V. Revathi, 32, P. Jaya, 42, K. Mahalakshmi, 43, S. Sanjay, 9, S. Keerthana, 13, V. Vijaya, 32, E. Povvunu, 60, P. Shalini, 18, M. Selvi, 40, R. Malathi, 37, A. Manjula, 38, and R. Saraswathi, 44. All of them belonged to the same village. “We have taken two samples of the fruit mix and water from the shop [from which it was purchased] and sent them to the laboratory of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH) in Kilpennathur (Tiruvannamalai) for testing,” R. Selvakumar, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Tiruvannamalai, told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, a team of health officials from the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH) visited the village, including the shop.
They took samples from the shop for testing. With the soaring heat, workers, mainly farm labourers, were used to consuming such unhealthy drinks in villages and small towns in the district, officials said, adding that following the incident, the district food inspectors have intensified checks in petty shops and wholesale dealers on such products in the district.
