Dagupan City (2 June) -- In times of calamities, be wary of the fish you buy or eat.

Some 180 persons in western Pangasinan found the truth of this cautionary word too late and learned their lesson the hard way a day after the passage of typhoon Cosme when they fell victims of suspected food poisoning after eating rotten bangus sold or given to them by neighbors and relatives.

Health authorities investigating the severe food reaction outbreak in western Pangasinan said bangus-possibly coming from breached from fishpens and fishponds - had been sold cheap or caught and stocked in some houses in the area until these became spoiled from lack of refrigeration due to the widespread power failure as a result of the typhoon.

Dr. Jackson Soriano of the Provincial Health Office said they counted some 104 persons of all ages and sex confined at the Western Pangasinan District Hospital as of Friday, May 23.

Another group of some 70 people were brought to various private hospitals complaining of vomiting, severe bowel movements and stomach cramps after eating the rotten bangus.

No deaths from the cases have been reported so far. Many of the victims have recovered and been sent home.

Soriano, interviewed by newsmen during President Arroyo's visit to Lingayen for a typhoon damage assessment meeting with the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), denied as complete exaggeration earlier news reports that the bangus were laced with formalin to keep them fresh longer.

"Not true," he said, curtly, of the reports that were quickly picked up by even some prominent Manila radio newscasters. (PIA)