As many as 35 people in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam were hospitalized for treatment for food poisoning after eating sweet white cowpea soup.

The sweet soup was offered at no charge by a local resident around the full-moon occasion, or the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (February 5).

Tran Quoc Phu, director of the medical center of Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, said on Monday that the center received the 35 patients and is treating 31 of them.

Four people with more serious conditions were transferred to the General Hospital of An Giang Area.

Two patients suffering multi-organ failure still need continuous dialysis and intensive care. They are at high risk of mortality.

“We have taken a sweet soup sample for testing to discover the cause of the poisoning case," Phu said.

“Most of the patients show symptoms of stomachache and diarrhea.

"We think the sweet soup is contaminated with bacterium."

Earlier, the 35 patients ate sweet white cowpea soup cooked by Nguyen Thi Anh T., 44, residing in Long Dien A Commune, Cho Moi District on Friday afternoon.

T. gave the sweet soup to residents in her neighborhood on Saturday morning but the number of people who ate the soup is unknown.

Later that night, many people developed symptoms of stomachache, diarrhea, vomiting, and fever and were rushed to the Cho Moi District Medical Center.

A leader of the People’s Committee of Cho Moi District said the district already asked relevant agencies and the authorities of Long Dien A Commune to report on the case.

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