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82
The total number of notifications received was 97, 58 of which related to an
outbreak in a hostel. In other instances 39 persons were involved. The age and
sex distribution of the cases notified is shown in the following Table, No. 33:—

The medical practitioner notifying usually states on his certificate the food
he suspects. In twelve households the food under suspicion was meat ; in eleven
it was fish, and in four other instances, it was other foods, while in seven instances
no particular food was regarded as the cause. Most of the cases were slight in
character, and one only was admitted to hospital.
Some cases were investigated bacteriologically
(a) Two adult women, aged 43, ate some slices of cooked meat early one
afternoon. After eight hours both were suffering from diarrhoea and faintness.
The illness was not notified for three days, and then a specimen of the cooked
meat was obtained. The bacteriologist reported as follows:—
"The odour of the specimen was extremely objectionable. The fat of
the meat appeared to be undergoing liquefaction.
Gram Films were prepared by taking portions of the material and shaking
them up with sterile water. These showed large masses of bacteria of mixed
type, gram positive and gram negative. Cultures were prepared from the
fat and lean portions of the meat, aerobically and anaerobically with and
without the addition of brilliant green. The cultures obtained were profuse
in all cases; these were sub-cultured on to agar plates. The cultures yielded
a copious growth of: (a) Bacillus Coli; (b) Diphtheroids ; (c) Pneumococci,