At least 25 students and one adult from the Pepito Tey Basic Secondary Urban School in the municipality of Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba province, were treated this Wednesday for a poisoning of yet undetermined cause, according to a report by the Contramaestre Communication Department on their social media.
The first report indicated that the Orlando Pantoja Tamayo Teaching General Hospital received 23 adolescents with vomiting, cramps, headaches, and irritated eyes. All were attended to immediately, and according to the official report, none of their lives were in danger.
A later update raised the total number of people affected to 25 students and one adult from the same institution. Of that group, 13 remained hospitalized under observation with progressive improvement of symptoms, while the others were discharged. None of them required admission to intensive care.
"This afternoon, 25 students from ESBU Pepito Tey were treated, along with one adult from the same school. All are out of danger, none in therapy, with only 13 hospitalized for observation as their symptoms have decreased; the others have been discharged," the statement specified.
The authorities did not specify in either publication the source of the poisoning and announced that a corresponding investigation would take place. The described symptoms —particularly eye irritation— are consistent with both food poisoning and the inhalation of some chemical substance or gas, although there is no official confirmation regarding either of the hypotheses.
Psychologists from the institution provided support to the affected students and their families during the emergency.
The episode adds to a series of poisoning outbreaks recorded in Cuba during 2026. In August, 52 people were affected by food poisoning in Santiago de Cuba, with 18 hospitalized. Less than a month later, 29 people —of which 22 were children— also suffered from poisoning in Pedro Betancourt, Matanzas.
At the end of September, two family members died in Holguín after consuming food prepared with potassium nitrate (saltpetre), an industrial preservative that was mistakenly used instead of common salt. A third family member remains in critical condition.
There are also reports of poisoning in schools: in January 2025, 35 students aged between 15 and 18 were hospitalized in Matanzas after inhaling an unidentified substance at the José Luis Dubrocq Pre-University Urban Institute.
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