KOTA KINABALU, July 26 — A primary four student from Sandakan has died after experiencing food poisoning, the latest such incident in the country.

Sabah Education Department director Datuk Raisin Saidin said 10-year-old Mohd Mifzal Anaqi Muhammad Rizal from Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Rimba died yesterday, after first experiencing symptoms on Tuesday.

"The student informed his class teacher that he could not attend school due to food poisoning via WhatsApp and had two days sick leave from the clinic.

"On Wednesday night, the victim had suddenly fainted and was taken to the hospital where he was admitted to the ICU. The student’s family informed the teacher that he had died at 7am,” said Raisin in a statement.

However, the Sabah Health Department has concluded that the poisoning was not related to the school canteen.

It said its investigation showed that no other student had experienced any poisoning at the same time, whereas the boy’s mother was also hospitalised with the same symptoms.

"The department will help the victim's family with takaful insurance claims. We will also file a complete report on the case when all investigations have been completed by the Sandakan District Health Office,” he said.

This incident is the latest in a spate of food poisoning cases across the country.

A 17-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl died after consuming food from a school event in Gombak last month. In the incident, 82 people reported suffered food poisoning.

Earlier this week, 91 students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Gaya were treated for food poisoning and some were hospitalised after consuming nasi lemak at the school.

On July 12, 28 students from SM Teknik Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra in George Town required treatment for the problem after consuming food at their school.

In June 90 students and nine staff members at SMK Tun Aminah in Batu Pahat, Johor experienced food poisoning.

In May, 65 pupils of SK Bandar Puteri Jaya in Sungai Petani, Kedah suffered from food poisoning after eating at the school canteen.