Cathay passengers flying to Hong Kong hit by food poisoning, preflight meal blamed

Ten passengers on board a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Nepal to Hong Kong on Wednesday suffered food poisoning, with city authorities saying sandwiches they ate before the journey might be to blame.

The Centre for Health Protection said it was notified by the airline that some passengers arriving from Kathmandu in the morning reported food poisoning symptoms, including vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and fever.

Upon arrival, workers from the centre’s port health division boarded flight CX640 to carry out an epidemiological investigation. Four of the 10 sought medical advice upon landing, but none required hospitalisation, it added.

The cluster involved six men and four women aged between 21 and 38.

Nine were part of a group joining an exchange trip to Nepal and ate the same takeaway meal of chicken, cucumber and tomato sandwiches with salad dressing and French fries about two hours before boarding, four to five hours before the onset of symptoms, according to the centre.

“Based on the epidemiological information currently available, it is likely that the sandwiches were the source of the outbreak,” it said.