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Advice was sought from the medical staff of the department in respect of three patients suffering from
rashes of a type where it was desirable to exclude smallpox as a possible cause. These were subsequently
diagnosed as chicken pox.
CERTIFICATES OF VACCINATION AND INOCULATION - AUTHENTICATION - MINISTRY OF
HEALTH CIRCULAR 60/48
Applications for authentication dealt with by the Medical Officer of Health numbered 4,045 as
against 3,225 for the orevious year. The applications comprised requests for authentication of International
Certificates of Vaccination and Inoculation against smallpox, yellow fever, cholera etc., and constituted
a substantial item of work.

There was only one outbreak (summarised below) to be reported in accordance with Memo. 188 Med.
of the Ministry of Health.
Date No. of No. of No. of No. of Foods involved and organisms
Notifi- persons cases deaths responsible
cations served reported
18-3-69 Unknown - Frozen Chickens
19-3-69 21 21 - Unknown
The above related to an outbreak involving resident staff at a designated "district hospital" in the
borough.
Advice was received that some 21 members of the staff reported moderate symptoms of vomiting,
abdominal colic and also diarrhoea in some cases.
In every case these persons had eaten Chicken Pilaff served in the staff restaurant for dinner on
Tuesday evening, 18th March, 1969.
It was reported that the chickens were delivered on Monday morning, 17th March. They were then
thawed in running cold water on Tuesday morning and cooked in a pressure steam oven at approximately
8lbs. pressure for 45 minutes, then when sufficiently cold to handle they were boned in preparation for
completion of the dish.
It was considered that the explosive nature of the outbreak with a very short period between
ingestion and onset of symptoms and the absence of pathogens on laboratory investigation suggest that a
bacterial toxin was involved.
The hospital favoured a staphylococcal origin but the food source was thought to be more suggestive
of c1. welchii being the likely origin.
The Department of Health and Social Security agreed that C1. welchii was most probably the cause of
this outbreak.
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