FOOD POISONING

Southland Times, Issue 22457, 18 December 1934, Page 8

FOOD POISONING

PUKEKOHE CASES RARE ORGANISM FOUND RESPONSIBLE MEDICAL INVESTIGATIONS (Per United Press Association.) Auckland, December 17. A rare type of organism known as aetryx was responsible for the outbreak of the food poisoning cases at Pukekohe last week. A statement to this effect was made by Dr J, Hughes, Medical Officer of Health at Auckland, after a consultation with Dr Gilmour, Pathologist at Auckland Hospital, who conducted bacteriological investigations into the various cases. Six people from the Pukekohe district were admitted to hospital suffering from mysterious symptoms of food poisoning. Mrs L. Nicholson died on Thursday morning. Other milder cases were also reported. Mrs Burrows has been-discharged from hospital and all the other patients continue to make satisfactory progress. Various samples of the foodstuffs taken from the three houses involved were sent to Auckland last week for analysis and the results of the investigation have established that the meat eaten by the three families was not the cause of sickness, as was at one time thought possible. Other research proved conclusively that infection of the patients was by aetryx bacillus. “Aetryx organism is one of the food poisoning groups,” said Dr Hughes. "Unfortunately comparatively little is known about it. It can be conveyed by flies and also by human carriers, and it sets up gastro enteritis, an acute form of colic which in some cases can become very serious. Food caribe quite all right when it leaves the shop and still be infected by organism flies alighting on the food while it is being prepared, or after it has been cooked. They can infect it very rapidly if they are carrying germs. Certain people may also act as carriers, infecting food through handling it. One thing is immediately apparent, the necessity of protecting food from the risk of contamination by flies.”