Raw-pork Dishes Kill 2, Making 300 Others Sick

[george]

Raw-pork dishes kill 2, making 300 others sick

BANGKOK: -- Up to 55 patients remained hospitalised at a Phayao Hospital Thursday after they ate raw-pork dishes provided at a funeral last week.

Of them, three remained in intensive-care units.

"We believe they have caught Streptococcus suis from the raw pork and pig blood," Public Health Ministry's permanent secretary Dr Prat Boonyawongvirot said Thursday.

Following the servings at the funeral on April 25 in Phayao's Phu Sang subdistrict, more than 300 people came down with illnesses. Of them, two died.

Prat said he already assigned Dr Thanongsan Suthatham, inspector general of the Public Health Ministry, to control the spread of the dangerous bacterium and draw up long-term preventative measures.

-- The Nation 2007-05-03

[astral]

Well, just how stupid can you get??

Stopping the spread should be easy, COOK the meat first, and cook it thoroughly,

[Crow Boy]

Well, just how stupid can you get??

Stopping the spread should be easy, COOK the meat first, and cook it thoroughly,

They would have been making Laab which is raw and contains the blood. Very tasty if prepared fresh and clean - obviously this wasn't

CB

[Steely Dan]

My Wife's surgery is in Phayao, I'd better tell her not to eat at the hospital canteen when she visits there tommorow. It's particularly ironic that the food was served a funeral.

[ajarnmark]

My Wife's surgery is in Phayao, I'd better tell her not to eat at the hospital canteen when she visits there tommorow. It's particularly ironic that the food was served a funeral.

The patients did not eat at the hospital canteen, they were just admitted there for treatment. Are you reading too much? or I am reading wrong?

[opothai]

i was always taught white meat must be cooked, to get rid of all the little nasties.

[JimmyTheMook]

Well, just how stupid can you get??

Stopping the spread should be easy, COOK the meat first, and cook it thoroughly,

They would have been making Laab which is raw and contains the blood. Very tasty if prepared fresh and clean - obviously this wasn't

CB

I like larb , but I always eat the cooked version.

[TIPSYBOB]

My Wife's surgery is in Phayao, I'd better tell her not to eat at the hospital canteen when she visits there tommorow. It's particularly ironic that the food was served a funeral.

Bottom line stay away from funerals, others of course

[endure]

My Wife's surgery is in Phayao, I'd better tell her not to eat at the hospital canteen when she visits there tommorow. It's particularly ironic that the food was served a funeral.

Bottom line stay away from funerals, others of course

Well the only funeral you really have to go to is your own.

[The Skipper]

Darwinism at work.

[0Mix1up]

Firstly sympathy must go to the relatives.

I cannot fathom anyone eating any raw meat/fish, just way to big a risk imo.

Plenty of tasty cooked food, I get worried when the street stalls place the cooked next to the uncooked and if concerned will ask for further bug incineration.

[oevna]

They would have been making Laab which is raw and contains the blood. Very tasty if prepared fresh and clean - obviously this wasn't

CB

I like larb , but I always eat the cooked version.

You scared me there for a minute, CB! I have eaten larb and it is good. I just assumed it was cooked! Jimmy, I'm glad to hear that what I ate probably was cooked.

Most of the time I'm vegetarian, which usually keeps me out of trouble when it comes to food poisoning while traveling abroad. Except for the times when I'm not vegetarian! (if for example it would be socially awkward to turn down food offered, or just too difficult to find vegetarian food.) I did however get food poisoning recently in Thailand (probably from eating fresh vegetables that weren't cleaned properly), so it's not fool-proof!

Cheers!

-oev

[PhilHarries]

I have eaten laarb made from raw pork and pig's blood many times, it was arroy maak maak and I'm still here. I used to drive the missus down to the market at daybreak to buy the stuff. We'd then eat it raw either lunch or evening and anything lft over would be cooked for next day.

Sounds to me that the raw ingredients, pun intended, were either not fresh or the finished dish not refridgerated and left standing around at room temperature (i.e. 30+ degrees) for some time.

Oh well we live and learn. 300 have learnt but two unfortunately missed the lesson. RIP.

[Scott]

Everyone needs to know that it is only safe to eat meat that is cooked and in the case of pork, it needs to be thoroughly cooked. The meat from one infected pig gets mixed with meat from uninfected pigs and this causes cross-contamination.

Another thing to remember is that pig growers frequently send pigs to slaughter when they start looking a little sick, stop breeding, go off their feed etc. All these are possible signs of disease. The animal may or may not have an infectious disease, but it's going to slaughter anyway.

A final thing to remember is that these animals can carry many diseases to which they have an immunity, but we don't. In short, don't eat it unless it is cooked.

Even when handling raw meat products, try to make sure the raw meat stays out of contact with counter tops, dishes and other items as this can contaminate fruits and vegetables.

Best of luck to everyone and eat safely!

[Ned]

Isaan and the North have the highest incidence of bile duct cancer (cholangio carcinoma ?) in the world by far. This has been put down to the eating of raw flesh.....any raw flesh which contains flukes, a type of worm. These settle in the bile duct apparently and grow to up to an inch long. They feed on your insides and can live for decades causing cancer.

My g/f's 30 year old died a horrible death from this disease last February. The doctors in Bkk diagnosed hep A but he broke out in sores , entered hospital and died within 6 weeks.

Enjoy the raw meat boys but realise the risk you are taking. Talk to any doctor and learn what might already be living in your bile duct.

[Ned]

That was my g/f's 30 year old son. I realise that these deaths in Phayao were caused by bacteria but long term you raw meat eaters ought to beware flukes

( phayaat in Thai)......seriously!!

[Johpa]

Everyone needs to know that it is only safe to eat meat that is cooked and in the case of pork, it needs to be thoroughly cooked.

Well why don't you go out there with your chemical filled belly and tell that to the millions of Khon Muang and Lao folk, and many of their neighbors, who have been eating laap dip (raw pork) as a ceremonial dish for countless generations without any significant ill effect. Seeing as laap dip, perhaps the signature dish of Khon Muang cuisine, is served at just about any social event of significance in Northern Thai culture, this incident can only be seen as an isolated incident, most likely the result of carelessness, or perhaps the result of fewer and fewer people raising pigs themselves and trusting store bought pork.

But you are not the first westerners to find the eating of raw meat to be abhorent. Regardless of their first-hand-account veracity, even Marco Polo's journals refer to the barbarian inhabitants of southern China eating raw meat.

Disclaimer: I have been enjoying laap dip for over 25 years without ill effect.

[philliphn]

Many yeara ago I had a girl friend who was of French descent from Haiti. When she was in her early twenties she started to have seizures. She went to one of the best hospitals in the U.S.A. They found that she had Cystocercosis (spelling). The Doctors thought that this was caused by eating improperly cooked Pork In Haiti, when she was a child. She had been living in the U.S.A for many years when I met her. What happened was that some parasite had gotten into her brain and died and calcified there.

I share this information to illustrate the dangers of eating Pork that is not cooked!

[mosquitoman]

I will still continue to eat raw meat dishes be it Sushi, Laab Dip or Steak Tartare, however I think will draw the line at raw chicken.

MM

[Johpa]

Many yeara ago I had a girl friend who was of French descent from Haiti. When she was in her early twenties she started to have seizures. She went to one of the best hospitals in the U.S.A. They found that she had Cystocercosis (spelling). The Doctors thought that this was caused by eating improperly cooked Pork In Haiti, when she was a child. She had been living in the U.S.A for many years when I met her. What happened was that some parasite had gotten into her brain and died and calcified there.

I share this information to illustrate the dangers of eating Pork that is not cooked!

Singular cases of illness are of little significance. A good freind of mine, as well as many others, became very ill and was hospitalized for several days from E. Coli bacteria after eating at a Jack in the Box burger place in the US many years ago. Several people died from that episode. Using your logic I could argue that eating meat that is cooked is equally as dangerous.

The danger is in eating the meat of any sick animal. Cysticercosis, AKA tapeworm, is common throughout Southeast and South Asia. But the acute fatal symptoms in the recent event were reported as the result of streptococcus bacteria and clearly unrelated to a long term parasitic infection. Someone took a sick pig and made laap dip. The rarity of such fatalties suggest most Khon Muang are smart enough not to eat a sick pig. They are also smart enough to inspect for signs of worm and other parasitic disease as tapeworm, which although not rare, is not common.

Clearly eating raw meat, be it pork, sushi, raw oysters (chew twice and swallow) is not for everyone. Clearly eating uncooked meat presents a higher risk factor than eating uncooked meat. One must set ones own risk tolerance on such issues. But given the prevalence of laap dip in the local diet, the risk is not as great as many make it out to be.

[brianinbangkok]

Just like to say be carefull with all uncooked food not just meat !

I had an amoeba infection in my liver that almost killed me before they found out what it was that was making me sick.

But not before it seriously damaged my liver.

I got it from eating vegetables at a restaurant in the North East of Thailand.

clearly they used dirty infected water to "clean" the food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entamoeba_histolytica

Edited May 5, 2007 by brianinbangkok

[kmart]

Isaan and the North have the highest incidence of bile duct cancer (cholangio carcinoma ?) in the world by far. This has been put down to the eating of raw flesh.....any raw flesh which contains flukes, a type of worm. These settle in the bile duct apparently and grow to up to an inch long. They feed on your insides and can live for decades causing cancer.

My g/f's 30 year old died a horrible death from this disease last February. The doctors in Bkk diagnosed hep A but he broke out in sores , entered hospital and died within 6 weeks.

Enjoy the raw meat boys but realise the risk you are taking. Talk to any doctor and learn what might already be living in your bile duct.

One of my staff died from the same complaint a couple of years ago.

[Jockstar]

What about naam? You know the fermeneted Thai sausage. I love it more uncooked than cooked.

Edited May 5, 2007 by Jockstar

[egeefay]

There's a good reason why some of the major religions ban the eating of pork

And to eat it raw is just plain stupid.

This isn't the dark ages any longer. There's good science warning people that eat raw meat...especially pork can lead to Trichinellosis.

[Johpa]

There's a good reason why some of the major religions ban the eating of pork

And to eat it raw is just plain stupid.

This isn't the dark ages any longer. There's good science warning people that eat raw meat...especially pork can lead to Trichinellosis.

There is a well reasoned contrarian anthropological argument (Marvin Harris perhaps?) that posits that the religious ban on pork was due to the pig competing with humans for the same food resources in the region of the Middle East and that the ban was not based upon health concerns.