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Copyright © 2024 CGTN. 京ICP备20000184号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
City view of Moscow, Russia, February 11, 2024. /CFP
A suspected outbreak of a rare and extremely dangerous food poisoning in Russia's Moscow has left 121 people seeking medical help and at least 30 in intensive care, Russian media reported, citing officials on Monday.
The patients were admitted to hospital with suspected food-borne botulism, a life-threatening condition that attacks the nervous system and can cause respiratory failure and paralysis.
Russian authorities said the toxic outbreak came from salads distributed by a popular online delivery service, which on Sunday temporarily suspended its operations amid a criminal investigation.
"In total 121 people sought medical help," state news agencies quoted Anastasia Rakova, the deputy mayor of Moscow, as saying on Monday. "At the moment 55 people are in serious condition, 30 of them in intensive care," she said, adding there was "no threat to the lives" of those who had been hospitalized thanks to timely medical intervention.
The city's consumer and health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said on Saturday it was conducting an "epidemiological investigation into suspected cases of botulism". Moscow prosecutor's office said it had launched a criminal investigation into a breach of consumer safety standards.
Botulism is an extremely rare condition, typically caused by improperly processed food and linked to canned and preserved goods. It does not pass between people.
The food delivery company linked to the outbreak, Kuchnia Na Rayone ("local kitchen"), said it had identified a "potential risk incident" with a salad that used tinned beans, and it had suspended orders.