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1. Information was received in mid-June of two teachers and ten children who were
ill with symptoms which included abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea These
occurred between half an-hour and five hours after eating a school dinner The illness
lasted 12-72 hours and was of a slight to moderate character.
The suspected meal consisted of luncheon meat or corned beef and pilchards, salad
and potatoes, golden pudding or chocolate pudding and custard, and was eaten by 79
school children and 13 members of the staff at this school.
Pood was prepared at another school and transported to the school where the outbreak
occurred. Two other schools were supplied with similar meals from the same
kitchen - no illness was reported amongst children in these schools.
All those affected were found to have eaten the tinned pilchards as a part of their
meal. Twelve cases were reported, and it would appear that this was probably a
staphylococcal infection occurring in one isolated tin after sterilisation
Examination of the school kitchen was reported by the Public Health Inspector as
being in excellent condition and, on examination, benches, equipment and utensils were
found to be very clean.
Examination of food samples and faecal specimens showed no pathogenic organisms
present.
2. Information was received in mid-October of possible cases of food poisoning that
had attended a Wedding reception at a hall in the Borough occasionally used for
receptions.
It appears that 650 guests attended this reception from near and fax (the bride
and groom coming from South London). It is difficult to establish how many were ill as
no record of the guests was available but one source believed that as many as 40 were
taken ill after the reception.
The meal consisted of Scotch eggs, ham sandwiches, bridge rolls, blackcurrant fruit
tarts, fresh fruit salad, fruit and tomatoes, cheese flavoured biscuits and coffee The
meal was consumed between 1 and 1.30 p.m.
Symptoms, mainly diarrhoea and abdominal pains, were felt by some at 6 p. m. and by
others from that time onwards for the next forty-eight hours.
Of the 21 Islington guests investigated 10 out of 12 symptoms were found positive for
salmonella bredeney, and 3 out of 9 asymptomatic were also positive. Fourteen guests
living in other areas were investigated - 9 out of 14 with symptoms were found positive
for salmonella bredeney
As ham had been identified with other salmonella bredeney infections it is assumed
that ham, either in the form of ham sandwiches or used as part cooking of Scotch eggs, was
responsible for the outbreak. The ham used in both cases came from different sources
Further enquiries failed to link any direct evidence with the hams and the organism
causing infection, but there is substantial evidence incriminating the Scotch eggs
3. Information also was received in mod October from the Registrar of a Hospital in the
Borough that some student nurses and radiographers had been ill after consuming a meal at
the Annexe to the hospital