An Epidemic of Food Poisoning - Essay Example

The etiological agents for this epidemic of food poisoning is bacteria (Emedicine, 2008). Bacterial food poisoning agents such as salmonellae, staphylococcus aureus, bacillus cereus and vibrio cholerae are all possible etiological causes for this instance of food poisoning (Emedicine, 2008). Other agents such as E. coli and shigella are precluded because the symptoms enlisted in the case study do not corroborate with those that are manifest by victims of these latter food poisoning agents (Emedicine, 2008). The E . coli/shigella combine produce symptoms that are hemorrhagic in nature, symptoms that are absent from those listed in the case study.

Among all these bacterial agents one viral agent can be included - Norwalk virus. The symptoms manifested by victims of norwalk virus poisoning corroborate exactly with those manifested by the victims of the case study epidemic (Emedicine, 2008). It was definitely food infection as enlisted bacterial or viral agents are harmful only when a substantial number enters the host's, usually humans and primates, body and multiplies and starts secreting toxins that adversely affect the host physiology.

In contrast, toxification of food is usually a phenomenon that is caused by toxin producing agents like some varieties of mushrooms (Emedicine, 2008). . Answer 2:It was definitely food infection as enlisted bacterial or viral agents are harmful only when a substantial number enters the host's, usually humans and primates, body and multiplies and starts secreting toxins that adversely affect the host physiology. In contrast, toxification of food is usually a phenomenon that is caused by toxin producing agents like some varieties of mushrooms (Emedicine, 2008).

Toxins in food like large game fish can also be induced by such fish feeding on dinoflagellates like algae (Arnold, 2007). This is a source of ciguatera poisoning (Arnold, 2007). Another common source of food poisoning through toxicity in fish is scromboid poisoning associated with dark meat fish such as tuna, albacore and mackerel (Patrick, 2007). These are precluded in favor of food-borne infection by bacterial or viral agents because of lack of appropriate symptoms and duration of such symptoms.

Question 3: How did the food get contaminated and which item was contaminatedAnswer 3:Careful study of the data attached with the case study reveals some facts. The data is of the symptoms evidenced in each person who attended the dinner at Port Allen, Louisiana, and the particular items of food each consumed there. The data also includes the particular hour and day on which the symptoms started developing and their duration.When the data set was scanned with an elimination method in which each item was scanned against persons who had eaten it and had developed the telltale symptoms - diarrhea, cramps, weakness, nausea, chills, headache, fever and vomiting - there was no clear indication that any one food item was responsible for the infection outbreak.

This is quite in corroboration with what the initial laboratory analysis had revealed - that most of