Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Ministry of Health has put its staff on high alert after some 108 people afflicted with food poisoning were admitted to a hospital in the northern Jordan Valley, the ministry said on Sunday.

Dr. Ahmad Qteitat, director of the ministry's Department of Hospital Management, told Petra that all the patients, including children, women and men from various age groups, fell ill after eating contaminated homos and falafel, two traditional diet staples, from an eatery in the town of Waqas.

He said a consignment of the food was taken for lab analysis "to find out the reasons behind the mass poisoning." Dr. Abdul Jalil Meqdadi, director of the Muaz Bin Jabal Hospital, where the patients had been admitted, said most of them were discharged, but 14, including five children, four women and five men, were still under treatment at the hospital. Health minister Ali Heyasat announced as he visited the patients that there were no serious cases, adding that a consignment of the food was taken for lab tests and that "the results will be available after 48-72 hours." Authorities had shut down the popular restaurant and its owner was arrested "as a precautionary measure," said local governor Adnan Atoum, adding that a panel had been assigned to investigate the mass poisoning.

Local citizens, meanwhile, urged health authorities to introduce strict monitoring of eateries, especially with the advent of summer and rising temperatures, and also demanded lab tests of drinking water and repair of the damaged water network.


*Petra