Nearly 500 students at Egypt's Al-Azhar University in hospital with food poisoning An Egyptian student from al-Azhar University receives treatment at an ambulance in Cairo, after nearly 500 uni students were taking to hospital with food poisoning. NEARLY 500 students from Cairo's Al-Azhar University have been admitted to hospital with food poisoning, a senior health official said. The official, Khaled el-Khateib, said that all 479 food poisoning cases came from the university's dormitories in the capital's Nasr City district. The victims were taken to several hospitals in Cairo. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi visited students being treated in one hospital overnight. Food poisoning is not uncommon in Egyptian university dormitories, where basic hygiene standards are often not observed, but the latest outbreak is the biggest in years. Al-Azhar students were planning further protests outside the university's offices on Tuesday. Egypt's top prosecutor ordered an investigation into the case. Al-Azhar University students angered by a mass outbreak of food poisoning protest as an ambulance carries an ill student to hospital in Cairo. Their signs read: "Down with the administration of negligence" and "the corrupt university."