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17
3 of which had been boiled in water for half an hour, and immediately
opened and emptied. It appeared that the 5 persons
attacked asked for another helping, and were served from a tin
of salmon which was opened as received at the time of purchase.
A statement was made that the contents of this tin was
eaten only by the persons who were attacked with diarrhoea
and vomiting, but the evidence is not conclusive. The 4 tins,
which were recovered from the refuse bin, together with 2
unopened tins of salmon purchased at the same time as those
which were consumed, were subsequently sent to the Ministry
of Health for examination.
Xo specimen of vomit or faeces could be obtained, as the
patients had made a rapid recovery. This attack of suspected
food poisoning was characterised by the rapid onset of illness
and the speedy recovery of the affected persons.
The kitchen and cooking utensils were examined the same
day and found to be in a clean condition.
The school has an establishment of 50 day and resident
students and a staff of 10, including domestics.
The Ministry of Health bacteriologist, in his report on the
4 tins which contained salmon, stated that the tins were all too
thoroughly cleaned out for any appreciable amount of salmon to
be obtained.
They were, however, again rinsed out, and the rinsings were
incubated in peptone water, but none of the specific food poisoning
bacteria were isolated.
As far as could be determined on inspection none of the tins
had had a leak.