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INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Food Poisoning
No outbreak of food poisoning occurred in the Borough and only
two cases were notified by general practitioners - 12 others came to
the knowledge of the department making 14 cases in all for the year.
One case was attributed to salmonella anatum, one to s.Heidelberg,
one to s.typhi-murium and four to s.Bredeney; seven were attributable
to an agent which was not identified.
There were no outbreaks in Hornsey but an outbreak in a
catering establishment in Westminster involved nine Hornsey residents
who attended a dinner. The organism s.Bredeney was found to be
the cause of the outbreak and it was isolated from ham served at
the dinner. Later two members of the staff of six working for the
firm who supplied the ham were also found to be carrying the organism.
There were four outbreaks about this time in the London area. Ham
was proved to be a common factor in three of the outbreaks and was
probably also related to the fourth.
Two butchers living in Hornsey and working at a butcher's shop
in another borough, were also found to be infected with s.Bredeney.
Neither was ill and it was found on investigation that nine out of the
staff of twelve were excreting the organism. The source was found
to be ham, supplied from the same firm as supplied the ham for the
dinner referred to in the previous paragraph.
One of the notified cases in which s.Heidelberg was isolated
was found to be connected with 17 incidents in the south of England
during July and August. Careful investigation of these incidents was
carried out by the staff of the Central Public Health Laboratory,
Colindale, and it was found that the cases were probably related to
animal infection in the west of England. Five incidents in London
and two incidents in Bournemouth and one in Oxford were associated
with meat products made in the west of England. In most incidences
the suspected food was Scotch Eggs.
Poliomyelitis
There were no cases of poliomyelitis in Hornsey during the
year. The number of cases in England and Wales was lower In
1962 than it has been for nearly half a century. This is clearly
the result of the nation wide campaign for vaccination of the susceptible
population against this disease. It is satisfying to see a reduction
in the number of cases but this is not the time for relaxing the
efforts of all concerned to obtain the maximum number of people
protected. In fact, it is at a time like this when a marked
improvement in the situation is taking place, that greater efforts than
ever should be made to secure as high a proportion of the Infant
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