Foodborne illness outbreak at restaurant prompts calls for improved food safety

FOOD handling practices and inadequate hygiene among staff members may have contributed to the spread of a food-borne disease (FBD) outbreak resulting in the closure of a Cape Town restaurant.

- NICOLA DANIELS

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) yesterday released the findings of an investigation into circumstances leading to 46 suspected cases of Shigella spp. or enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) - closely related bacteria that cause gastroenteritis, or stomach flu, in humans.

Shigella spp. is highly contagious and can result in asymptomatic infection to severe bloody diarrhoea. Fever, headache, malaise and vomiting are often the initial symptoms.

The report details how on February 8, 2024, the Western Cape Provincial Communicable Disease Control Coordinator received a notification from the NICD concerning a potential FBD outbreak linked to a restaurant.

"At approximately 10pm, a general practitioner (GP) informed the NICD of two patients who had presented at his practice with severe diarrhoea and high temperatures. The patients reported that they were a party of five, all of whom had consumed prawns during dinner at (the) restaurant."