More than two dozen election officials in Kosovo have been taken to hospital after falling ill when opening ballot boxes from Serbia.

Local press reported 26 Central Election Commission officials started having allergic reactions when they opened five boxes in Pristina as part of a recount following a snap election last week.

The officials said there was an unusual smell and they started getting itchy red hands and eyes when they opened the boxes, observer Shpetim Shujaku told KosovaPress.

Paramedics were called to the centre and checked out the officials.

Nine women, two of them pregnant, were then taken to the University Clinical Centre's infectious disease clinic.


A spokesman said two of the nine were also vomiting.

He added they were scared but stable and their condition is not infectious.

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A police spokesman confirmed the incident but declined to give details, saying they are investigating.

The left-wing nationalist opposition party, Vetevendosje, declared victory in the election last Sunday.

Kosovo is a former province of Serbia, but declared independence in 2008.

More than 100 countries recognise it as its own state, but Serbia, Russia and China do not.