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85
Information Obtained Regarding Five Cases in the Two Families in the same
House.
Late on the 20th February five patients (females 39, 16 and 5, and
males 14 and 4 years) were removed from 184, Manchester Road to St.
Andrew's Hospital, as suffering from Food Poisoning.
Investigations pointed to the illnesses having been caused by a tin
of tongue which was consumed about 6 p.m. that evening.
A small portion of the tongue which was left in the house was sent
for bacteriological examination. In submitting the results of the
bacteriological examination the Pathologist drew attention "tentatively
to the presence of enterococci and staphylococcus aureus in the tongue as
possibly being the pathogenic bacteria in this outbreak. No significant
findings were made in the specimens from the patients."
The tin in which the tongue was taken had been thrown away, but
was retrieved. It was unlabelled and bore no identification marks.
Exhaustive enquiries were made in the markets, of the regular licensed
stallholders, grocers and provision dealers, and at a large wholesale warehouse
to trace the source of the tin but without success. Some two to
three weeks later the Food Inspector concerned received information which
led to enquiries being made at a wharf, connected with the canned goods
trade, situated in another Borough, and it was then found that there were
similar tins at this wharf and it appeared that the suspected tin had been
taken from a consignment (surreptitiously) prior to the examination.
Part of this consignment had been rejected as unsound. The Medical
Officer of Health of the district submitted eight tins of the tongue for
bacteriological examination. The Pathologist reportedt hat the bacteriological
examination showed the presence of viable organisms in two tins
only. In one of these the organism was "a heat-resistant streptococcus
which resembled in fermentation reactions the streptococcus isolated from
the tongue, which was suspected of being the cause of poisoning in the
case of the patients recently treated."
No other suspected cases of illness due to eating of tongue were
reported.
The patients all recovered.