Forty-six middle-school students believed to have been poisoned by food, were sent to hospital at Liantang, a town near Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province.

At around 8:30 p.m. Monday, the first student, who attended the Nanchang No.2 Teachers' School, got a fever and vomited, and another student became ill at 9 p.m.

By Tuesday morning, 46 students were reported to be sick with similar symptoms. Doctors in the county hospital, where the students were receiving blood tests and treatment, said that it was a typical food poisoning case.

A special investigation group of experts and officials from the municipal government of Nanchang and the provincial government are investigating the case.

(Xinhua)