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It will be seen from this table that brawn was purchased on five different
days. These five days' sales were from two different makings. From the average
number of sales per day it was estimated that over four thousand customers bought
brawn from these two batches during the five days, and it is possible that three
times that number of persons ate some of it. As only 25 cases of food poisoning
were reported, it appeared evident that the whole of the brawn could not have been
infected and that infection of the meat had occurred subsequent to its preparation,
and further enquiries were based on this assumption.
The Council's Bacteriologist reported that organisms identifiable as Salmonella
Newport had been cultured from the faeces of two of the patients. Appropriate
measures were taken as regards these persons.
The Deputy Medical Officer of Health, Dr. A. M. Barlow, throughout the
investigation rendered the most useful assistance and the benefit of his clinical
experience was fully realised by myself and by the Food Inspector, Mr. G. T.
Alexander, who investigated the circumstances with his usual thoroughness and
competency.
In addition to the cases reported during this outbreak 26 cases of food poisoning
were reported during the year. As regards 22 of these patients the illness resulted
in little more than temporary indisposition but removal to hospital was necessary
in the remaining four cases. One of these cases had a fatal termination. The
patient, a child of nine months, was taken to hospital nine days after the commencement
of slight diarrhoea and vomiting. The Bacillus Aertrycke was later
isolated from the child's stools and death occurred on the twenty-first day of
her illness, the cause of her death being certified as pneumonia and enteritis.