Public health officials from the HSE South are investigating an outbreak of salmonella in the Tralee and north Kerry area after 30 people, three times as many as the whole of last year, have been diagnosed with the illness in a four week period.
The figures relate to July but it is understood the bulk of the 30 confirmed cases occurred from July 6th to July 9th. By comparison there had been just eight cases in Kerry in the first six months of the year and 10 in the whole of 2006, the HSE said yesterday.
It is suspected locally that the cases may have originated in an ingredient in a product sold in a food retail outlet. However, the HSE would not confirm this and would not name the premises.
A HSE outbreak control team was convened and is investigating "a possible" link to a food premises in Tralee. Management of the premises were co-operating fully with the investigation "which is ongoing", according to a statement issued by the health body yesterday.
The symptoms caused by salmonella include diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pains and sometimes fever, and the illness can last for a day or several days and can continue for up to a fortnight.
The HSE is advising people in the north Kerry area who develop gastrointestinal illness to contact their GP. They have advised that salmonella is more common in foods such as raw poultry, unpasteurised milk and raw and undercooked eggs. It is also found in shellfish and may be picked up from someone who is carrying the virus and where there is not proper hygiene.
They advise the public to thoroughly cook chicken and to avoid eating dishes made with raw eggs such as cheesecakes and desserts as well as home-made mayonnaise "unless the eggs are guaranteed salmonella free". They also advise careful personal hygiene