Eighteen children who fell ill after eating lunch in a kindergarten in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been discharged from hospital and are back at school, local sources said on Thursday.

The source of the poisoning was confirmed to be bacterial. Traces of bacillus dysenteriae, which causes diarrhea, were found on kitchen tools and equipment in the cafeteria of No. 3 Kindergarten of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, according to local sanitation surveillance authorities.

The children showed symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and dizziness after eating lunch in the cafeteria on Oct. 25. They were admitted to Xinjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital for treatment.

The cafeteria has been ordered to stop supplying food and improve sanitation conditions. Pupils are now eating homemade lunches or buying lunch outside the kindergarten.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2006)