25 Cathay passengers on two Nepal flights report suspected food poisoning

Fifteen more passengers fell ill with symptoms of food poisoning on a Cathay Pacific flight from Kathmandu, Nepal to Hong Kong on Thursday (Jan 9), a day after 10 passengers reported suspected food poisoning after taking the same flight route.

Cathay said Thursday that "it appears that the likely source of any food contamination was outside the airline’s operation."

Five of the 15 passengers – four males and a female – reported feeling sick on board the CX640 flight and had to be sent to the North Lantau Hospital after the plane landed in Hong Kong at around 5 am this morning.

The incident came after the airliner reported to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) on Wednesday (Jan 8) that 10 passengers of a flight arriving from Kathmandu suffered from food poisoning symptoms including vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and fever. Four of them sought medical advice upon landing.

CHP noted that the 10, six males and four females aged between 21 and 38, were said to feel unwell about 10 to 30 minutes after having meals served on the flight. However, preliminary investigations revealed that nine of them had eaten the same takeaway chicken, cucumber and tomato sandwiches about two hours before boarding the flight. 

CHP said it is likely the sandwiches were the source of the outbreak based on the epidemiological information. 

It is unclear whether or not the 15 ill passengers who landed in Hong Kong on Thursday had consumed the same sandwiches before the flight.

CHP is investigating the incident and has also collected the food samples served in flight for testing.

In response on Thursday, Cathay confirms that it was aware of the suspected food poisoning cases that affected passengers on bord CX640 during the two days.

"At this stage it appears that the likely source of any food contamination was outside the airline’s operation," it said. "However should this not be the case we will report the incident transparently and will take all necessary corrective actions."

The company said it will continue to work closely with the authorities throughout the investigation and provide necessary support to the affected passengers.

"We sincerely apologise to the affected passengers for any inconvenience caused."

(updated at 8.32 pm)