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Of the above notified cases 10 occurred singly, and 4 in a small outbreak involving
3 families. In the single cases it was not possible to trace the source of infection with
any degree of certainty. In the 4 related cases, however, there was strong circumstantial
evidence that the infection was derived from duck eggs used to prepare a coating for fried
fish. An interesting feature of this outbreak is that while the cooking process, which
consisted of frying in deep oil, would in all probability sterilise the coating on the fish,
infection appears to have been re-introduced by the housewife handling the pieces of fish
after cooking while her hands were still covered with the uncooked egg and breadcrumbs
mixture in which she had dipped them. Portions of the fish consumed cold by three persons
on the day of cooking gave rise to no ill effects, but other portions consumed on the second,
third and fourth days after cooking all gave rise to cases of food poisoning from whom
salmonella typhi murium was recovered. This fish had been stored at air temperature during
fairly warm weather.
This small outbreak serves to underline the dangers associated with the consumption
of duck eggs and shows that cooking does not always protect against the risk of infection.
It also illustrates the importance of eating cooked dishes, such as meat and fish, on the
day on which they are prepared unless they can be stored under conditions which will ensure
that any organisms present will not multiply to a point where they are liable to give rise
to infection.
DYSENTERY.
There were 44 cases of this disease notified during the year (18 males and 26 females),
giving a case rate of 0.26 per 1,000 of the population.
GASTRITIS. ENTERITIS AND DIARRHOEA.
During the year the number of deaths from this disease was 7 of which only 1 occurred
below the age of one year.
TYPHOID AND PARA-TYPHOID FEVERS.
There were 3 cases of typhoid fever and 2 cases of para-typhoid fever during the year.
There were no deaths. All were isolated cases and in none was it possible to detect the
source of infection.
Of the three patients who had typhoid fever, one, a merchant seaman, contracted the
disease abroad, and another picked up the infection while on a cycle tour which covered most
of the South of England and the Isle of Wight. The third patient, a housewife, had not been
away from home. Careful investigation revealed no source of infection, although it is
suggestive that this lady was in the habit of eating raw, often unwashed, vegetables while
preparing meals.
The cases of para-typhoid fever occurred in two small children, aged nineteen months and
two years respectively. Here again it was impossible to prove the source of infection, but one
family had recently returned from a holiday in a country bungalow where the water supply was
unsatisfactory. They had been instructed to boil all water for drinking purposes but it is
Possible that this precaution was not always observed.
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