Visakhapatnam: 70 fall sick after consuming contaminated meat

Visakhapatnam: About 70 persons have fallen sick after consuming beef at Magatapalem village, Gaduthuru panchayat of G Madugula mandal.

The incident occurred on Wednesday night wherein six persons are said to be in critical condition. They were shifted to Paderu district hospital.

According to sources, a villager's cow went missing on Monday and later died. However, the locals said that the dead cow was brought to the village and its meat was cooked and consumed by the locals. It is learnt that some of them have reportedly stored the meat and consumed it the next day.

The doctors said that the incident happened because of consuming dead animal's meat. Those who consumed the meat developed abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Paderu MLA K. Bhagya Lakshmi visited the hospital on Thursday and enquired about their health condition. Later, she directed the doctors to provide quality treatment.

ITDA project officer S Venkateswar interacted with the villagers and suggested them to eat fresh food. The PO said the villagers who got admitted to the hospital were recovering and they were likely to get discharged on Friday.