Dr. H. Timbrell Bulstrode's report to the Local Government Board upon alleged oyster-home enteric fever and other illness following the mayoral banquets at Winchester and Southampton, and upon enteric fever occurring simultaneously elsewhere and also ascribed to oysters.

  • Bulstrode, H. Timbrell.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Dr. H. Timbrell Bulstrode's report to the Local Government Board upon alleged oyster-home enteric fever and other illness following the mayoral banquets at Winchester and Southampton, and upon enteric fever occurring simultaneously elsewhere and also ascribed to oysters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    10/54 (page 8)
    As to the illness su ffered by the 55 Southampton people—An analysis of the notes in the table in Appendix II. (pages 31-89) will serve to show that as at Winchester, so at Southampton, the sufferers may be divided into four separate groups :— (a) Those who suffered from illness a few hours after the banquet. (l>) Those whose illness did not take place until three to five days after- wards. (c) Those who suffered from enteric fever. (d) Those who suffered from illness a few hours after the banquet, and who, in addition, developed enteric fever later on. Alike, therefore, at Winchester and Southampton there appear to have been poisons of an analogous nature at work ; and the results obtained may have been brought about by— (a) A toxin already formed in food, and capable of producing toxic symptoms within a few hours, or, conceivably some rapidly acting bacteria capable of producing the same manifestations. (b) An infection of the food by bacteria requiring some three or four days to produce in the human body sufficient bye-products to bring about toxic symptoms. (c) Presence in food of the specific bacteria of enteric fever requiring one, two, or three weeks, or thereabouts, to give rise to symptoms of enteric fever. (d) A mixed infection of the food by a ready-made toxin, or possibly some rapidly acting bacteria, and by enteric fever bacteria, the toxin or bacteria manifesting their effects on the consumer in the one case in a few hours, in the other after a considerable period of incubation had elapsed. How jar ivas the illness at Southampton referable to the banquet.—It is possible on the facts recorded to eliminate from consideration the vast majority of the articles consumed at the Southampton banquet, and reasonable suspicion can alone attach to the oysters and the turtle soup. Before, however, discussing these articles of diet, it may be mentioned that, locally, some suspicion was in the first instance attached to the beans, which, it was alleged, were tinned. But a reference to the table will show that at least 28 persons of the 55 who were ill did not partake of beans. Moreover, the enquiries which were made satisfied both Dr. Lauder and myself that the beans were not tinned, but that they were, on the contrary, fresh hot-house beans, for which a high price had been paid. Passing now to the oysters and the turtle soup. The oysters.—It will be seen by this table that with one exception all those who were attacked with illness of one or another description took oysters, and that the one guest who was ill, but who took no oysters, suffered from 1‘ slight abdominal pain.” It may, I suggest, be fairly said that all attacked with illness took oysters, and this article of food was the only one common to all those so attacked. . The turtle soup.—Of the 55 persons who were taken ill at least six did not partake of turtle soup, a fact which in itself goes far to negative belief that the illness was in any degree due to this article. In the appendix will be found a list of the articles out of which the “ stock,” which formed the basis of the turtle soup, was made. The process of preparing the “ stock ” renders it necessary that the compound shall be actually boiled on more than one occasion, and this fact renders it improbable that the soup was the cause at any rate of the enteric fever or other bacterial infection. As to illness of other sorts the tinned turtle used in this instance was of West Indian origin and prepared by a French firm, and the specimens of this which I was shown were quite “ fresh ” and the tins not “ blown.” The ehef to whom I spoke upon the subject seemed fully alive to the danger of using a “ blown ” tin, i.e., a tin the ends of which are distended by gas. There is every probability that the turtle used had been properly sterilised. Moreover, there was no complaint as to the quality of the soup. Nevertheless, it is theoretically possible that one of the ingredients of the