FOODS AND PUBLIC HEALTH 9 



intestinal intoxications." Tanner (16), in summarizing the objections 

 to ptomaine poisoning as a possible cause of illness, states that the toxic- 

 ity of ptomaines isolated from putrefied foods has not been satisfactorily 

 established; and that investigations of outbreaks of illnesses thought to 

 have been caused by ptomaines have revealed satisfactory evidence that 

 certain kinds of bacteria cause the trouble by their direct effect on the 

 body, rather than indirectly through the medium of some by-product 

 of putrefaction. 



The term "ptomaine poisoning" may, therefore, be regarded as a relic 

 of the comparative infancy of the science of medical bacteriology; but 

 the term is commonly employed by the public to designate a rather 

 specific kind of ailment and physicians frequently find it convenient to 

 use the term because it conveys to their patients a definite meaning so 

 far as the nature of the ailment is concerned, even though it is inaccurate 

 with reference to the cause. 



Salmonella Food Poisoning 



So far as scientists know at present, the bacteria most commonly concerned 

 in causing acute gastro-intestinal illnesses, which we now call "food poisoning," 

 are bacteria of the Salmonella group and Staphylococcus aureus. The begin- 

 ning of our knowledge of food poisoning goes back to 1888, when Gaertner, 

 in Germany, isolated a bacterium from an acute case of intestinal illness which 

 quickly followed the eating of spoiled meat. The bacterium was then called 

 Bacillus enteritidis, and is now known as Salmonella entcritidis. It belongs 

 to a group of bacteria sometimes called the paratyphoid group because they 

 resemble the typhoid bacillus in many respects. It has been reported (17) 

 that at least twenty-seven distinct but closely related bacteria of the Salmonella 

 group are known to have caused outbreaks of food poisoning. Salmonella 

 aertrycke is the organism of the group most frequently encountered in food- 

 poisoning outbreaks in the United States and in Great Britain (8). 



A typical outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning was reported recently in 

 the Journal of the American Medical Association (18). On June 14, 1938. 

 several cases of acute food poisoning were reported to the board of health 

 of a large eastern city. The illness had probably resulted from food eaten 

 at a wedding banquet on June 12. In all, 105 persons were said to have eaten 

 at the banquet, and investigation revealed at least 79 persons had been made 

 ill. At the same time, several cases of similar illness were reported from 

 among 21 young people, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, who had attended 

 a confirmation party on the same day as that of the banquet. Later investiga- 

 tion showed that all of these young people had become ill. All of the affected 

 persons from both groups had similar symptoms typical of food poisoning: 

 diarrhea, intestinal pain, and vomiting. Several patients cared for in hospitals 

 were reported to have had fever, and many of the others probably had also. 

 The persons became ill on the average of 19 hours after they had eaten the 

 infected food. There were no deaths, and the average duration of illness 

 was 5 or 6 days. 



At first, there did not appear to be any connection between the two out- 

 breaks, but investigation disclosed that the same caterer had prepared the 

 meals for both the banquet and the confirmation party ; and one item, chopped 

 chicken-liver paste, was served at both meals. The paste was prepared between 

 8 and 9 o'clock in the morning, and was kept without refrigeration until it 

 was served about 7 o'clock in the evening. The weather was quite warm 

 and conditions were ideal for growth of bacteria in the paste. Of the persons 



