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FOOD POISONING.
Some details have been given elsewhere in this report of the food poisoning
outbreaks and the following table is included as requested by the Ministry.
Food Poisoning Notifications (Corrected) Returned to Registrar General.
1st Quarter. 2nd Quarter. 3rd Quarter. 4th Quarter. Total. Deaths.
Nil. 8 2 Nil 10 Nil
Outbreaks Due to Identified Agents.
Total Outbreaks. 1 Total cases 8 Deaths Nil
Outbreak due to: Salmonella Organisms: enteritidis var. essen.
Outbreaks of undiscovered cause.
Total Outbreaks. 1 Total cases 2 Deaths Nil
Single cases. Nil
The second outbreak was probably due to a Staphylococcal toxin poisoning.
Some Ox tongue was purchased and cooked on a Wednesday and eaten by members
of the household on Thursday and Friday, but no ill effects were felt by anyone
until two male friends of the family ate the tongue on Saturday evening.
Within 2½ hours of consumption of the tongue, both men were in a collapsed state
and arrived in the hospital from different areas at almost the some time: No
samples of the suspected food were available.
This latter case was probably due to lack of hand washing, and, as previously
mentioned, the importance of this aspect of the duties of food handlers, whether
in the home or in business premises, cannot be too often repeated.