School lunch sickens hundreds in SW China

More than 300 children fell ill after eating lunch in a rural primary school in southwest China's Yunnan Province, officials said Tuesday.

The government of Zhenxiong county said 337 children of the county's Dingla Primary School were admitted to the county hospital on Monday, with dozens showing symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and fever. By Tuesday morning, 247 were able to check out from the hospital and the rest remain hospitalized.

Authorities have ordered the primary school to suspend serving lunch, and an investigation into suspected food poisoning is underway.

Meanwhile, similar cases have been reported lately. About 70 children showed symptoms of food poisoning in late March after having breakfast at a school in southwest China's Guizhou province. Health experts suspected that milk in the school breakfast set may have caused the sickness.