One of pilgrims at Afula hospital
Photo: Hagai Aharon
170 pilgrims suffer food poisoning
French tourists visiting northern Israel evacuated to hospitals in Tiberias, Afula and Safed, most of them in light condition
Wide-scale food poisoning in north: About 170 French pilgrims, aged 18 to 30, suffered a serious gastric trouble on Friday while visiting northern Israel.
They were evacuated to hospital in Tiberias, Afula and Safed, most of them in light condition.
The tourists were likely poisoned by food consumed in the Dead Sea area on Thursday. The Health Ministry launched an investigation into the incident.
Magen David Adom emergency crews evacuated the pilgrims to the different hospitals. Eli Peretz, Manager of the MDA Yarden district, said that in the morning hours the MDA station in Tiberias began receiving calls from tourists visiting a beach in the eastern part of the Sea of Galilee.
"We soon discovered a large group of tourists suffering from identical symptoms of food poisoning. We transferred dozens of them to the Poriya Medical Center in Tiberias, and others were evacuated to hospitals in Afula and Safed."
Some of the patients told Peretz that they had begun to develop symptoms on Thursday evening, leading him to estimate that the source of the poisoning was food consumed on Wednesday during a visit to Dead Sea area.
The Poriya Medical Center reported that 34 patients had arrived at the emergency room in the late morning hours, and that 10 of them were hospitalized in the internal wards in light condition. The rest of the patients were still being examined. Twenty additional tourists were expected to arrive at the hospital later in the day.
Some of the tourists were on their way to the Church of the Annunciation when they began feeling unwell. About 40 of them were evacuated to the Haemek Medical Center in Afula.
The pilgrims' guide told the medical staff that the group was part of a delegation of 1,800 French tourists.
"He said that the day before yesterday they were in southern Israel, where they are food suspected as spoilt. Some of the people began feeling unwell yesterday evening and were hospitalized. This morning, all of the group members had already developed the symptoms and arrived at the hospitals," a hospital official said.
Most of the patients are in light and stable condition. "There are three who have also developed a fever and dehydrated. They are being treated with fluids and are in light to moderate condition," the hospital spokeswoman said.
In the afternoon hours, several tourists arrived at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed and underwent a checkup.
