175 hospitalized after eating 'banh mi' in Vietnam: Salmonella detected in 4 patient samples

The Quang Ngai Department of Health announced the findings on Monday morning, citing test results from the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang.

According to a report sent by the institute to the Quang Ngai Center for Disease Control, nine patient samples were collected on October 10 and received by the institute on October 11.

Four samples tested positive for Salmonella spp., including two from 12-year-old patients and one each from patients aged 33 and 65.

All 175 hospitalized patients had reported eating banh mi from Ba Duoc, a shop at 12 Duy Tan Street in Cam Thanh Ward, before developing symptoms.

Salmonella found in 12 of 13 food samples

Earlier tests released on October 16 also detected Salmonella in 12 of 13 food samples collected from the shop.

The contaminated samples included vegetables, pork sausage, shredded pork floss, sauces, bread, and butter.

Tests also found E. coli in vegetables at 380 colony-forming units per gram (CFU/g), pork sausage at 2,600 CFU/g, and butter at 18,000 CFU/g.

The pork sausage sample additionally contained Staphylococcus aureus at 1,400 CFU/g.

Salmonella can cause gastrointestinal infections, with symptoms including diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting.

Health authorities said the detection of Salmonella in both food and patient samples would help determine the source of the outbreak.

Further epidemiological investigations will seek to establish links between the contaminated food and the patients before local authorities propose administrative penalties against the responsible establishment.

Hospitalizations climb to 175

The outbreak began on October 10, when customers reported abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and fever after eating banh mi from Ba Duoc.

Phuc Hung Hospital initially admitted 13 patients, with the number rising to 55 by that evening.

Hospitalizations continued to climb, reaching 105 on October 11, 135 on October 12, and 167 by the morning of October 13.

The total has since reached 175.

Following the outbreak, authorities ordered the shop to suspend operations, inspected its food preparation area, and sealed remaining food products for investigation.

An initial inspection found that the owner could not provide documents verifying the origins of some ingredients, while hygiene problems were also identified at the food preparation area inside the owner's home.