Pangasinan towns stop salted eggs sale amid poisoning cases

VILLASIS, Pangasinan—Local government officials have ordered retailers in eastern Pangasinan towns to stop selling salted eggs until health authorities have cleared these fit for human consumption.

The move was prompted by the increasing number of suspected food poisoning cases, which had spread to seven eastern Pangasinan towns and Urdaneta City. On Tuesday, 32 more people, who ate salted eggs, were treated in different health facilities here and neighboring Rosales and Asingan towns, according to health and local government officials.

This was in addition to the 39 people who were treated at Eastern Pangasinan District Hospital (EPDH) in Tayug town from June 8 to 15.

Tayug Mayor Tyrone Agabas said he asked vendors to stop selling salted eggs until the results of lab tests were released.

At least 15 residents of Tayug were taken to EPDH after they ate salted eggs.

Dr. Gloria Araos-Liberato, municipal health officer here, said two families from San Blas and Puelay villages on Monday sought confinement for symptoms of food poisoning.

“They were all very weak,” Liberato said. The patients, she said, had admitted to eating salted eggs during the weekend.

“We would find out later that in Villasis alone, there were 16 victims. Others did not seek treatment because they had self-medicated,” she said.

She said some of the patients told her that they bought the eggs at P5 each from an ambulant vendor.

Sto. Tomas Mayor Timoteo Villar III said 10 residents of his town were also treated last week for food poisoning after they ate salted eggs bought in Villasis.

Josue Abrenica, Sto. Tomas municipal nurse, said that “based on our own findings, the salted eggs that were sold here came from Sta. Maria town.”

Liberato said two more patients were treated at Asingan Community Hospital in Asingan town and a family of four from Urdaneta City also sought medical attention from a private clinic.

Abrenica said health workers had gathered specimens from salted eggs being sold in the town.

Dr. Alfredo Sy, EPDH chief, said 39 people who sought treatment in EPDH all claimed to have eaten salted eggs.

Nineteen of them were from Sta. Maria town, 15 were from Tayug town, two from Natividad town and three from San Nicolas town.

The patients complained of diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and had fever when they were treated in the hospital.

Sy said the patients all claimed to have eaten salted eggs bought from ambulant vendors, “sari-sari” stores and public market vendors.

He said the hospital started treating patients on June 8, when two residents of Sta. Maria were confined. Another three patients from this town were admitted that day, he said.

Provincial veterinarian Eric Perez said fresh eggs usually have a shelf life of at least 15 days while salted eggs can last up to a month. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon