Classes have been suspended after 140 students were sickened by norovirus at a school in south China's Guangdong Province, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Grade I and II students of Shenzhen Baihe Foreign Language School began showing signs of food poisoning after experiencing stomach aches and vomiting on Monday afternoon. By Tuesday morning, a total of 140 students out of the school's 1,400, showed similar symptoms.

An investigation by the local disease prevention and control center showed the mass vomiting was caused by the noro virus infection. The affected students were taken home by their parents for treatment.