Madrid (Spain), 25 August. (LaPresse) – Food poisoning has affected more than a hundred people at the Hotel Cavanna in La Manga del Mar Menor, in the Spanish region of Murcia. The news was reported by the regional health department, quoted by the local newspaper La Opinion de Murcia. Initial microbiological results from those hospitalised have confirmed that the causative agent is salmonella. The alert was raised after lunch on Saturday 23 August. Initially, 28 cases were reported. As the hours passed, the number of people affected rose to over a hundred. Those affected complained of vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and, in some cases, fever. Twenty people were taken to the emergency room and two are still under observation. Technicians from the Region's Food Safety, Zoonosis and Epidemiological Surveillance Services arrived at the hotel and launched an investigation to determine the source of the outbreak. “The clustering of cases over time, with a greater onset of symptoms after lunch on Saturday 23 August, suggests a common dietary origin,” reported the Department of Health. As a precautionary measure, the hotel kitchen was closed and ordered to ‘thoroughly clean and disinfect’ the premises. To ensure service to guests, catering was temporarily taken over by an external company.
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