Upmarket hotel food poisoning
by Leon Gettler
A virus is believed to have caused an outbreak of sickness at a wedding reception at an upmarket Brisbane hotel.
More than 50 guests at the Brisbane Hilton reception – about a third of those invited - succumbed to vomiting and diarrhoea. The people hit with the virus included the groom.
Three ended up in hospital.
Metro North public health unit physician James Smith said initial pathology results from some wedding reception guests had returned positive findings for norovirus but the issue was tracking down the source of the virus.
“Given that there are no clear links to any specific food item at the function and that norovirus can be spread in a number of different ways, the public health unit is unable to say at this point whether norovirus was spread by way of food contamination or by person to person,” Dr Smith told the Courier Mail.
He said gastroenteritis can spread easily between people and cause vomiting and diarrhoea.
That means it is not clear whether the outbreak at the Hilton was the result of mass food poisoning or a highly contagious virus spreading person-to-person.
Public health officers have been working with Hilton management and the Brisbane City Council to investigate the cause of the gastrointestinal illness.
Hilton Hotel Brisbane general manager Chris Partridge told the Courier Mail that Queensland Health had inspected the hotel’s kitchens. He said they had “left quite satisfied
Wedding guests, including those who had not fallen ill, have been interviewed by public health officials in an attempt to pinpoint how the outbreak happened.
Health officers have spoken to more than 60 guests. In addition, food and clinical samples have been sent away for analysis.
Dr Smith did not disclose the name of the catering company.
But he said neither the company nor the Hilton had been investigated over a similar suspected food poisoning cases before.
17th March 2016
