Chinese officials say 70 people in Beijing are suffering from meningitis after eating raw snails.
The Beijing Bureau of Health said the diners became ill with Guangzhou Angiostrongylus meningitis after eating Amazonian snails at a local restaurant, the China Daily newspaper reported.
The office issued an urgent notice Sunday prohibiting the sale of raw or half-cooked freshwater snails in Beijing restaurants.
The outbreak was first diagnosed in June when a 34-year-old man was taken to Beijing Friendship Hospital with a severe headache and nausea after allegedly eating a dish of cold snail meat at the Shuguo Yanyi Restaurant, the newspaper said.
The illness is curable and will not result in major problems if treated timely and properly, a hospital official told the newspaper.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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