Salmonella cases in Lamia have taken on epidemic proportions, increasing rapidly since the morning. According to reports, by midday 30 patients had presented at the emergency department of the city’s hospital with severe symptoms of gastroenteritis, including fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. Of these, 12 were assessed as requiring hospitalisation.

The same sources say the patients do not know each other and did not dine together at any single venue.

Besides the cases that presented at the emergency department of Lamia hospital, local outlet LamiaReport has reported a number of additional cases who received medical advice from private doctors and remained at home rather than seeking hospital treatment.

Contaminated batch of chicken likely to blame

All the patients said they had eaten at different restaurants across the city, a pattern that points to a contaminated batch of food, most likely chicken, supplied to multiple venues by the same distributor.

Lamia hospital has laboratory confirmation of salmonella and immediately raised the alarm, notifying the National Public Health Organisation (EODY). EODY in turn informed the Directorate of Public Health and Social Welfare of Fthiotida, which will now carry out inspections of businesses in the area to trace the source of the contamination.

Concern is also mounting over discovering the supplier of the contaminated product, which is sold at the meat market, with the most worrying possibility being that the tainted batch may have been distributed beyond Lamia alone.

This has made it all the more urgent to identify the supplier without delay and withdraw the contaminated products from sale, given the potential risk to public health.