Food poisoning in Trinco: one dead

A case of suspected food poisoning swept through Trincomalee with one dead and 202 hospitalised yesterday.
Among the affected were scores of students who had consumed the bread, fish or egg buns sold at the bakeries, 80 of whom had to be hospitalised after complaining of symptoms of nausea, vomiting and headaches.
Close to 27 bakeries in the Trincomalee town were closed after the outbreak and one bakery which sold products that made most of the victims ill was sealed off. This had led to a severe shortage of bread in the town. Bread, buns and other food items produced in these bakeries were also destroyed under the supervision of public health officers led by District Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr. R. Satheeskumar.
The diseased was a 50 year old man who had succumbed to food poisoning after eating a bun purchased from a bakery for breakfast. Though many suspect the cause for the poisoning was the mixture of fertiliser in the flour, Ministry officials stated that they would investigate all avenues before concluding their report.
Blood samples of the patients currently being treated at Trincomalee Hospital have been sent to the Medical Research Investigation (MRI) for further analysis. Health Ministry officials stated that even though they were not responsible for the incident, they will support the investigations and contribute by analysing the samples in order to help determine the cause of the contamination.