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13
It was found that nine out of a total staff of fifteen employed
in various capacities at the shop had had symptoms similar in
type, but varying in severity, such as headache, abdominal pain,
and diarrhoea. Also that four members of the manager's household,
living in a house not in the immediate neighbourhood of the bakery,
had developed precisely similar symptoms.
The almost simultaneous occurrence of cases of illness among
the pastrycook's staff pointed to a common source of infection,
probably through food or drink. The many alternative sources
of infection might have needed further investigation, but was
limited by the fact that a second group of cases had occurred at
precisely the same time in the house of the manager of the shop.
Investigations were made inter alia as to :—
Milk Supply : enquiry showed that the milk supply was
not common to all.
Water Supply : this could be set aside as non-suspect.
Provisions : the provisions regularly bought from the shop
for the manager's house were bread, madeira cakes, small
fancy cakes and veal and ham pies.
The provisions consumed in common with the shop staff and
the manager's house were limited to bread and meat pies, the latter
of course being the more likely means of infection.
Attention was thus concentrated on the meat pies, and the
manner in which these might possibly have been infected.
The meat pies were not prepared at the shop, but at a central
bakehouse serving a number of branch shops. The pies were
delivered ready-made at the shop, and sold over the counter.
Briefly, the main possibilities of infection seemed to be :—
Contamination of Pies at Shop by Assistants serving them.
This appeared to be very unlikely the method of infection, as the
occurrence of groups of cases suggested more massive infection
of the interior 01 the pies.
Contamination of Pies by Mice or Rats.—This arose from
the fact that a bacterial virus was in regular use at the shop for
the extermination of these vermin. Investigations made, however,
at the Ministry of Health's laboratories showed that the bacterial
virus did not correspond in cultural features with the organism
isolated from the blood of the first known patient ; in other words,
the bacterial virus used at the bakery was not the organism of
Paratyphoid Fever B.