SINGAPORE — The number of people struck by gastroenteritis symptoms here shows no signs of abating. In the latest round, 22 residents from the Ridge View Residential College of the National University of Singapore (NUS) became ill with symptoms earlier this week.

The affected students had all consumed food served at the halal food counter on Monday (April 1), Miss Arabelle Lim, a 21-year-old resident at the college, told TODAY.

In a joint statement on Friday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said that one person was hospitalised and is in a stable condition as of Thursday afternoon.

The rest of the students have since recovered and resumed classes, NUS said on Friday.

MOH and SFA said that they inspected the college canteen on Thursday and are in the midst of investigations.

Gastroenteritis, which is commonly associated with food poisoning or “stomach flu”, is the inflammation of the stomach or the intestines, with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting. In cases linked to food poisoning, it is caused by ingesting food and drink that have been contaminated by bacteria, viruses or parasites.

Miss Lim said that residential assistants at the college had asked residents if they had experienced symptoms of diarrhoea on Monday night and on Tuesday.

A spokesperson from the university said that the NUS Office of Housing Services was informed about the cases on Tuesday. It then alerted the college’s external dining operator Chartwells and an investigation is underway.

As a precautionary measure, the office has closed the kitchens at the college, and cleaning and disinfection protocols have been carried out.

While no other cases have been reported, as an interim measure, the office has made arrangements for meals at the college to be prepared by another kitchen on campus.

“The university takes a serious view of this incident. We will continue to closely monitor the condition of the affected students, and work closely with Chartwells and the authorities on this matter,” the spokesperson added.

In a message to residents sent on Friday morning and seen by TODAY, the residential assistants assured students that the situation was “under control” and was being “carefully reviewed” by the college, NUS and Chartwells.

The residential assistants outlined a series of measures that the college, NUS and the operator have taken to address the situation:

• Staff members working in the dining hall have been sent for stool testing

• Food samples have been sent for lab testing, with results to be verified by a third-party auditor

• Dining hall facilities, including the kitchen and serving area, have been “thoroughly” sanitised

• A health and safety team has been sent to ensure compliance in all food-handling processes, to be verified by a third-party auditor

Chartwells, a subsidiary of food services company Compass Group, told TODAY that it is “cooperating fully with both the university and the relevant authorities”.

In 2015, The Straits Times reported that the food operator served non-halal beef at the halal counter in the dining halls of four residential colleges in NUS.

The gastroenteritis outbreak at NUS is the second in two weeks. Last Wednesday, the authorities reported that 109 people from PAP Community Foundation (PCF) Sparkletots had fallen ill and 15 were hospitalised with gastroenteritis symptoms. The number of children hospitalised went up to 31, the operator reported earlier this week.

The cases were traced to the pre-school and childcare centre operators’ caterer, Kate’s Catering. The food company’s operations were suspended on March 26, pending investigations.

As of Thursday, there were 239 children and 12 staff members from 13 pre-schools affected by the outbreak. 

In February, a lunch at PCF's Toa Payoh branch left 14 children vomiting and having diarrhoea. Later in the same month, the authorities announced that 31 people developed gastroenteritis at Tanglin MindChamps pre-school.

Late last year, there were four high-profile outbreaks:

• Tung Lok Millennium was suspended in November last year after 190 people fell sick from consuming food catered by the company. It resumed operations in January after a 62-day suspension.

• Also in November, a total of 131 people, including kindergarten children, contracted gastroenteritis after consuming food prepared by caterer FoodTalks at a learning camp.

• Popular supper joint Spize's River Valley outlet was shut down in December last year and its license was terminated by the authorities after it was found to have served severely contaminated food that led to 47 people being hospitalised and one person died.

• High-end hotel Mandarin Orchard Singapore was forced to suspend its operations at its Grand Ballroom from Dec 5 last year after 315 people developed symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting, and 14 were hospitalised. It resumed operations in January after a 55-day suspension.