Food Poison Journal - Food poisoning outbreaks and litigation: surveillance and analysis

Leanne Raymond reports that a food poisoning scare has hit three residences of the University of Cape Town with more than 40 students who share a dining hall falling ill with vomiting and diarrhoea.

A concerned parent, who preferred not to be named, told the Cape Times students became ill on Tuesday night and then again on Wednesday night. One student was taken to hospital.

Ludwe Mbhele, head of the house committee at the University House Residence, said: "Students started getting sick (on Tuesday) from the University House Dining Hall. The catering company has sent a sample to their lab in Johannesburg for testing. They are not sure where it is coming from, the food or the cutlery. It started on Tuesday and the numbers (of ill students) just increased."

Nearly 170 students of a Henan Province primary school were rushed to hospital for food poisoning on Thursday. A few patients were in serious condition.

The victims suffered vomiting, stomachache and headache about one hour after lunch at a campus canteen in Anyang County. The meal included kidney beans, chicken, potatoes and rice. In another development, authorities in Jiutai, Jilin Province, yesterday blamed half-cooked kidney beans for the poisoning of 344 students and teachers at a primary school on Thursday. All victims recovered.

Susan L. Burke of eDiets reports that mad cow disease has thousands turning up their noses at burgers. Meat sales are down, and moms don't know whether they can take their kids to the fast-food playground. Consumers are all atwitter, frightened that they'll fall victim to the disease that causes cows to fall down and become paralyzed. But, health experts want you to know that there is a much larger threat to public health than eating beef.

In fact, only one person has come down with the human form of mad cow disease in the U.S., and it's not linked to the one cow that they've isolated with the disease in this country. Although there's a problem with beef, it's not from mad cow. And, there's a problem with food in general.

Food Borne Illness is a Big, Deadly Problem.

Food borne illnesses dwarf any concern consumers may have about beef and mad cow, because what you can't see can kill you. The Center for Disease Control's website states that food safety is a huge problem in the U.S. The latest statistics are that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 Americans die each year from food borne illness.

Meat is only one cause of food borne illnesses. The largest outbreak of food borne illness last year came from Hepatitis A, transmitted from tainted green onions, grown in Mexico. Cantaloupe, grapes and raspberries from South America were all linked to different outbreaks of Hepatitis A last year. The green onion outbreak struck hard--at least three deaths were attributed and at least 540 people were infected. These bacterial and viral diseases--Hepatitis A, E. coli, campylobacter and cryptosporidium--all may be transmitted by eating unwashed fruit and vegetables.

The Centre for Health Protection is investigating two reports of suspected food poisoning outbreaks involving 17 people upon notification by the Guangdong Department of Health.

The affected people, five men and 12 women, aged 24 to 69, were among two tour groups to Shaoguan in Guangdong Province.

A group of 15 people had breakfast at a hotel in Shaoguan on September 22. Five of them, a man and four women aged 40 to 52, developed gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting 4.5 to seven hours afterwards.

Fifteen people aged 14 to 40 have come down with food poisoning after eating at a Kwun Tong restaurant September 15 to 19.

The nine men and six women suffered diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting three to 15 hours after eating there. None required hospitalization and all are stable.

The Centre for Health Protection said bacterial contamination was the likely cause.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today ordered the temporary closure of King Fok Palace Korean and Japanese Restaurant at Hong Ning Road, Kwun Tong for thorough cleansing and disinfection following a cluster of food poisoning outbreaks.

The restaurant can only be re-opened when the department is satisfied that the immediate health hazard on the premises has been eliminated.