Eleven cases of epidemiological “Bacterial food poisoning” were diagnosed in the state of Yucatán last week. However, the Ministry of Health of Yucatan (SSY) refuses to reveal if the cases were linked to the outbreak of salmonellosis registered at the”Bla Bla & Sushi” restaurant, in northern Mérida.
The Ministry announced that they will not provide further information related to the controversial case occurred in that business, which was closed down by Health authorities last week, due to bad hygiene measures in food handling.
The federal Ministry of Health reported that during the epidemiological week number 50, corresponding to Dec. 9th to the 15th, there were 453 people diagnosed with some sort of “Bacterial food poisoning”, and 11 of these cases were registered in the state of Yucatán.
With this increase, the state went from number 31st to the 29th in the national incidence table of food poisoning cases.
35 cases of “bacterial food poisoning”hve been registered in Yucatán during 2018, which reflects an increase of 75 percent, when in the same period of 2017 the figure was 20 cases.
On Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 December, several cases of food poisoning were reported by people who went to eat at the “Bla Bla & Sushi” restaurant, located at Victory Platz shopping center on Avenida Andrés García Lavín, near the area known as City Center in northern Mérida. Many of these individuals were diagnosed with salmonellosis.
Among the symptoms they suffered were vomit, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, fainting, fever, stomach ache, among other discomforts caused by intoxication by food poisoning.
Hours later, the incident went viral on social networks, where citizens were denouncing that the point of infection was the business located in the north of the city.
As of Thursday Dec. 20, there were numerous criticisms and complaints published on the “Bla Bla & Sushi” Facebook profile, mostly on Tuesday Dec. 18.
The State Laboratory of Public Health and Epidemiological Reference (Lespre) performed several tests to determine the species of bacteria that caused this health problem, but the information was denied to the media.
It should be noted that there were seven complaints filed with the Directorate of Protection against Health Risks of the SSY, of an equal number of people intoxicated, although through social networks it was reported that there could be up to 50 cases.
Before the lawsuits filed, on Thursday 20, health inspectors conducted a sanitary operation on the restaurant premises, and it was determined that the aforementioned restaurant was a source of infection.
During this action, samples of the food were taken, the lack of hygiene at the place was confirmed, and due to the unhealthy conditions that prevailed, the restaurant was definitively closed down, and stamps were placed at the main entrance.
The temporary closure caused a confrontation between the president in Yucatan of the National Chamber of the Restaurant Industry and Seasoned Foods (Canirac), Alejandra Pacheco Montero, with various officials of the State government.
TYT Newsroom with information from Yucatan Ahora
