Some 68 students from St. Thomas Aquinas Igumori Secondary School in Mbeere South, Embu County, were on Friday morning hospitalized after consuming suspected contaminated meat.
The affected students, all in Form Fours, developed severe stomach pains and diarrhea after consuming boiled cow’s head and soup on Thursday evening, prompting an urgent medical response.
The affected students were rushed to Kiritiri Level Four Hospital where five were referred to Embu Level Five Hospital for specialized treatment and are said to be in stable condition.
The rest were treated and discharged as Public Health Officials from the County Government commenced a probe into the matter.
The school on Wednesday organized a feast to celebrate good performance in last year’s KCSE where they slaughtered a bull that was consumed by all students and staff.
The head was however preserved and boiled on Thursday and consumed by this year’s Form Four candidates to lift their spirits and morale as they prepared to sit for the final exams.
School Principal Paul Mwaniki regretted the unfortunate turn of events and held a meeting with all the students to assure them of the safety of their meals.
He said contamination could have taken place during preparation of the meal as they had taken all precautionary measures including having the meat inspected and certified as fit for consumption by relevant authorities.
Mwaniki assured parents and the school community that there was no cause for panic, as medics had swiftly intervened and samples were also taken for further analysis.
Embu County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Health Jamal Runyenje echoed Mwaniki’s sentiments, stating that all the hospitalized students were in stable condition.
“We are working closely with the school and health experts to ensure such an incident does not happen again,” he added.
At the same time, County Health Officials have widened their scope of investigations into overall food storage, handling and preparation at the school to avert a recurrent of such an incident.
They have appealed to all learning institutions to enforce strict food safety measures.
By Samuel Waititu
