April 28, 2011

Clenbuterol-suspected food poisoning strikes China's Hunan

Two food poisoning cases in China's Hunan and Shaanxi provinces over the weekend, suspected to be related to clenbuterol ingestion, sent more than 300 people to hospitals for treatment.

In Changsha, the capital of Central China's Hunan province, 286 villagers were sent to hospitals for examinations and 91 were diagnosed with food poisoning on Saturday after attending a wedding, according to Changsha media.

The food poisoning is suspected to be the result of ingesting clenbuterol, a substance used to increase the amount of lean meat in pigs, a nurse with the emergency department at the No.3 Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, in Changsha, said.

Fifteen of the patients at the hospital were in critical condition, including children and a pregnant woman, she said. Other victims, though, were only suffering minor symptoms. Many of them had already left the hospital, the nurse said.

"Officials with the local centre for disease control and prevention arrived last night, and I heard them say that the mass poisoning might be related to clenbuterol," she said. A staff member of the hospital's duty room said officials from the district's health and epidemic prevention station went to the hospital on Sunday afternoon and took test samples from the patients.

No results from the tests were available by Sunday evening (Apr 24). The consumption of offal and meat tainted by clenbuterol can cause dizziness, headaches, hand tremors, palpitations, agitation, and other symptoms. The greatest risks are posed to those who have heart troubles, experts said.