After an outbreak of food poisoning at Mae La Refugee camp on the border with Myanmar in Thailand’s Tak Province three people, including a seven-month-old baby were hospitalised. 

According to officials at Mae La Camp, their preliminary findings indicate that the food poisoning was caused by snacks ordered online and then sold by shops in the camp. 

The food poisoning victims ranged in age from a seven-month-old baby to a 30-year-old, with some of the affected children experiencing severe symptoms, according to Saw Sunday, the secretary of the Mae La Camp administration.

10 refugees were so badly affected by the food poisoning that they had to be taken from the camp to a Thai hospital to receive treatment. Of those, seven were later released and returned to the camp to recover but the other three, including the seven-month-old baby, were so badly affected they had to remain at the hospital to receive treatment as inpatients. 

Saw Sunday said to KIC: “Some shops ordered snacks online and sold them to camp residents. Some of the items were already expired, but the shopkeepers didn’t know and sold them anyway. People who bought those snacks are now suffering from food poisoning. We started getting reports of food poisoning around 4:00 pm [on 7 June]. About three people have severe symptoms. Right now, we can’t say if there will be more cases.”

He added that the camp administration has now issued notices to shops selling dried food products, instructing them not to sell snacks or dried noodle packs ordered online, as expired items may be mixed in with those items.

Mae La Camp has experienced food poisoning cases in the past, but none as serious as this most recent incident.