Food Poisoning Outbreak in Fuying Junior High School in Hsinchuan, Taipei County

C.S. Lai

1992 Vol.8 NO.8

Correspondence Author：

Abstract：

On 26 May 1992, a food poisoning outbreak among the students after having taken boxed lunch occurred in the Fuying Junior High School, Hoinchuan Taipei County. Major symptoms were: vomiting (31.9%), abdominal pain (31.4%), nausea (24.8%) and diarrhea (23.2%). Lunch boxes were ordered from three companies and only these from the Chuan-chen-fu Co. seemed to have caused the outbreak. The students eating boxed lunch brought from home or ordered from the other two companies had not been affected. Of the questionnaires (490 valid) collected from 493 students in different grades who had consumed boxed lunch from the Chuan-chen-fu Co. It shows that 190 students had at least one of the four symptoms, giving an attack rate of 38.8%, a median incubation period of 3 hours and 5 minutes, an average incubation period of 3 hours and 15 minutes with a standard deviation of 75 minutes (see Figure 1). Staphylococcus aureus were found in the vomituses of two ill students. Statistical analysis of attack rate by food item of the six items showed that fried egg was related to the outbreak. Further analysis of the spare lunch box by the National Laboratories of Foods and Drugs also found Staphylococcus in the fried eggs.