Around 120 people suffered food poisoning during a rally in Guatemala for Alvaro Colom, presidential candidate for the National Unity and Hope Party, one of the major parties in Guatemala, according to news reports on Monday.

Colom's supporters attended the Sunday rally in Escuintla, where they ate rice and ground beef sandwiches, which are the suspected source of the subsequent diarrhea and vomiting, Guatemala City doctors said.

Oscar Canek, director of the medical center that treated the sick, said the infection appears to have been caused by the staphylococcus in the meat. He added that the patients were given fluids and medicine.

Colom and his running mate, Rafael Espada, a cardiologist, visited the sick and said the party would take care of all medical bills.

Political parties frequently feed the people who attend their rallies. Colom is leading polls for the September 9 general elections with 25.8 percent of support, some 2.3 percent less than in April.

Source: Xinhua