Two people died, of suspected food poisoning, and 29 other were hospitalized after allegedly eating the same food served at a funeral in the West Rand.
The Gauteng Department of Health spokesperson, Kwara Kekana, confirmed that it is dealing with cases of cluster outbreak of suspected food poisoning in the West Rand District.
“On Monday, 15 November 2021 at 7h30 am, the West Rand District Health Services received communication about a suspected food poisoning cluster outbreak following a funeral in Kadima Street, Kagiso,” she said.
Kekana said while there are 29 notified and verified cases admitted and treated in both Public and Private facilities, there are an additional 11 unverified cases.
“The Department is working closely with the West Rand District in the investigation of the incident. The poisoning is suspected of having emanated from a funeral of an elderly woman. Funeral proceedings are reported to have begun at 7h00 am on Saturday, 13 November 2021,” she said.
The food was served at around 11:00.
“Reports of sudden vomiting and diarrhea began at around 16:00 on the same day. On Sunday evening, there were rumours of eight cases of people with symptoms and one death,” she said.
Kekana added that the Department is awaiting the results of samples collected from those who are admitted to the hospital to find the causative organism and the post mortem results of the two people who had died.
“The investigation into the incident is ongoing.”
This comes only weeks after the deaths of five children who allegedly consumed toxic noodles.
The Health Department has initiated an urgent investigation into possible food poisoning in Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, and Gauteng Provinces to establish what had caused the deaths of these five children.
Sources: MSN, Citizen
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