Outbreak of Enteritis Due to Duck Eggs

On the morning of July 7, 1949, about 40 nurses at St. Bartholomew's Hospital had reported sick with an acute febrile enteritis, and many patients throughout the wards of the hospital were similarly affected. Inquiry in the kitchen revealed that a lightly cooked pudding containing 200 duck eggs had been served to the nursing and other female staff and to patients on July 5. It was therefore no surprise when stool cultures revealed the presence of Salmonella typhi-murium. The outbreak was on an exceptional scale for one so produced, and had features which appear worthy of record. Source of Infection