Public health director: No more hospitalisations

Health officials have received word of no additional hospitalisations in the wake of a food poisoning outbreak that sent 15 people to area hospitals this weekend following the widely attended Taste of Cayman festival on Saturday, a leading public health officer said Monday afternoon.

Dr. Kiran Kumar, the director of public health in the Cayman Islands, said roughly 20 more people who had fallen ill after attending the upscale food and wine festival in Grand Cayman but hadn’t sought treatment at either of the downtown George Town hospitals had come forward and will be questioned after contacting authorities Monday.

Public health officials are asking those who may have been sickened to contact authorities to help them determine how many people may have been affected – a tally officially standing at roughly 35.

Patients began arriving at area hospitals in the wee hours Sunday complaining of abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea, a few hours after they told doctors they attended the upscale annual food and wine festival Taste of Cayman at Camana Bay.

Fourteen people were treated and released Sunday from the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town. One person experiencing similar discomfort sought treatment Sunday at neighbouring Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital.

“We’ve had no more cases at either hospital,” Dr. Kumar said Monday afternoon.

Dr. Kumar said the cause of the reported illnesses appeared to be the bacteria staphylococcus. He said although it was not immediately clear which food or foods had been contaminated, health officials may be getting closer to establishing a “common thread” between the cases of those sickened. He implored those who may have fallen ill to contact health officials at 244-2561 or 244-2621.

Saturday evening, more than 5,000 people attended the 24th annual Taste of Cayman festivities at Camana Bay, said Jane van der Bol, executive director of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association. The glitzy outdoor gathering, which saw record attendance this year, allows people to sample dishes and drinks from the more than 40 participating restaurants and beverage providers, including some of the finest dining establishments in the Western Caribbean territory.

Ms van der Bol said Monday that CITA, for which Taste of Cayman is the leading fundraiser, is working with Cayman health officials to investigate the incident. She also expressed sentiments for those who weren’t feeling well and said the tourism association plans to work with health authorities in the future to ensure proper food-handling and management practices are adhered to by all participating vendors.

“It’s an unfortunate incident at an event that offers so much culinary pleasure to the people who attend,” Ms van der Bol said. “The majority of the vendors that participate are all restaurants that are regularly screened and inspected by the Department of Environmental Health. They are all professional, either restaurants or hotel restaurants, that are under the very strict guidelines of Cayman’s laws for having a restaurant … and are inspected on a regular basis. From talking with the Department of Environmental Health … they have a fairly good routine of training, education and certification for all the restaurants.”

Food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, can start just hours after eating contaminated food. Most often, food poisoning is mild and resolves without treatment. But some cases are severe, requiring hospitalisation.

Dr. Kumar said most of the cases stemming from this incident appeared to be mild. He said some of those contacting health officials Monday were complaining of stomach cramps, diarrhoea, and general nausea – something he said his office routinely encounters with 15 to 20 people in a given week. Dr. Kumar said others sought sick certificates for employment purposes.

Health officials said they will continue to investigate.

“It’s not easy to ID a particular food item,” Dr. Kumar said. “We will look for the ones with the common threads.”