A hotel on the New South Wales Central Coast suffered from a severe food poisoning outbreak of Salmonella after approximately 70 out of 230 people who attended a two-day conference at the Crown Plaza Terrigal Pacific hotel on November 30th fell ill. A total of 27 out of the 70 illnesses have now been confirmed by medical professionals as cases of Salmonella.
The NSW Food Authority are currently investigating the cause of this outbreak and urges, “anyone who felt unwell or had concerns after the conference should seek medical care, get in touch with their local public health unit, or contact conference organizers, the Aboriginal Languages Trust.”
Authorities are continuing to investigate food that may have been contaminated at the conference, and for the time being, the hotel’s kitchen has voluntarily closed, though “it is required to do [so] under the Food Act of 2003.”
According to the CDC, the symptoms of Salmonella include diarrhea, abdominal (stomach) cramps, fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, headache, and blood in the stool.
It is normally ingested through infected food products such as undercooked meat and eggs or unwashed produce, Though most people are able to recover relatively quickly at home with rest and fluids, some require “admission to hospital for rehydration” and some people can end up with long-term illnesses, such as post-infectious IBS, says national food poisoning lawyer Anthony Coveny. Those who are most susceptible to long-term illness and hospitalization are the immunocompromised, older adults, and those younger than 5.
