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More than 200 laid up with food poisoning in Nalchik.

Over the past 24 hours a total of 48 adults and 32 children have been brought to an isolation department of the Nalchik hospital

NALCHIK, December 9 (Itar-Tass) —— The number of food poisoning cases registered in Nalchik in the North Caucasus has been growing. Over the past 24 hours a total of 48 adults and 32 children have been brought to an isolation department of the Nalchik hospital, deputy health minister of Kabardino-Balkaria Aslan Ortanov told Itar-Tass on Friday.

At present, a total of 212 people, including 101 children, are on hospital beds. Earlier, 22 patients whose condition is normal had been discharged from the hospital, Ortanov said.

An outbreak of an epidemic of intestine poisoning was registered in Nalchik overnight to December 7. Water samples taken on the same day proved normal.

Medical experts have not found any link between the sudden sick cases and any particular water or food products. The patients poisoned used different food products, and they live in different areas of Nalchik to which water is supplied from different water reserves, Ortanov said. The sick have also been tested for another virus of cold-related disease, which might cause symptoms of food poisoning.

The Investigative Department for Kabardino-Balkaria has brought an investigation into the causes of mass sickness under its control.

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