2 December 2015
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (December 2) investigating a suspected case of food poisoning related to the consumption of wild fruits, and urged the public not to collect and eat wild fruits from parks or the countryside.
The case involves a man and two women aged between 33 and 52. They developed abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and burning sensation of the throat within one hour after consuming wild fruits yesterday (December 1). All of them attended the Accident and Emergency Department of United Christian Hospital on the same day and did not require hospitalisation. They have been in stable condition all along.
Initial investigations revealed that the patients had consumed wild fruits picked up near a tree in Choi Fook Estate, Kowloon Bay. The CHP's investigation is ongoing and the patients' remaining wild fruits have been submitted for testing.
"Members of the public should not pick wild fruits for consumption as it is difficult to distinguish edible fruit species from inedible ones," a spokesman for the CHP said.