Woman Dies, 42 Sick From Food Poisoning At Funeral

[Lite Beer]

Woman dies, 42 sick from food poisoning

By The Nation on Sunday

A 62-year-old woman died from severe food poisoning and 42 others in Sa Kaew's Khao Chakan district became ill and had to be hospitalised after they ate pork that was not properly cooked at a funeral, Khao Chakan Hospital director Adisorn Srisuriyasawat said yesterday.

After some 20 people went to the hospital for diarrhoea, medical staff were told that people attending a funeral at Wat Na Bon ate spicy larb moo minced pork salad that wasn't properly cooked and got sick, Adisorn said.

An epidemic investigation team and Khao Chakan health personnel visited six villages and found 42 people were sick and 62-year-old Jan Maenpeun had died. They found the pork came from a pig that died while giving birth. Its owner had cut and distributed the meat to neighbours while some meat was cooked at the funeral.

They alerted related officials and community leaders about the outbreak and gave them information for prevention and aid, plus distributed packs of oral rehydration salts. Officials urged the severely sick to see a doctor. Officials also collected samples from patients for lab tests while livestock officials checked the pork and villages for possible animal diseases

-- The Nation 2011-09-04

[craigt3365]

Really sad. I've seen them eat raw pork in my wife's village during various gatherings. Luckily, I've gotten her family not to do this any more...raw beef is a different story.

[Thaddeus]

Really sad. I've seen them eat raw pork in my wife's village during various gatherings. Luckily, I've gotten her family not to do this any more...raw beef is a different story.

I've experienced the same, for 'not cooked properly' read 'not cooked at all'

I ate some by accident at a wedding quite a few years ago and was incredibly ill for 3 or 4 days.

RIP to the old lady and I hope those still sick recover quickly.

[falangjim]

They found the pork came from a pig that had died while giving birth.

Can anyone explain the relevance of this statement?

[Junglejumbo]

Thai people are amongst the worst in the world when it comes to food hygiene. I've lived in 19 countries.

Thailand is the only place where I've been asked would i like my chicken stake rare, medium or well-done...

Eating pork with a little blood is a common occurance that most Thais wouldn't even bother complaining about...

Most waiters and kitchen staff don't wash their hands after using the toilet and many use their hands to clean rather than toilet paper (which is why most toilets don't have toilet paper).

Raw vegetable are invariably dirty. Yes....you may not have noticed but next time look at your tomato or lettuce and you'll find a bit of earth stuck to it. Even the more expensive restaurants will only leave their food in a bowl of still tap water, and not wash under running water. This does not completelyl clean it. Lesser establishments won't even bother washing the veg at all. They only care about presentation here and if the place has darkened lighting your basically screwed.

Street stalls hardly wash vegetables.

Perhaps worst of all is the difficult to break perception that food once cooked can remain on a table for unlimited hours or even until the next day without out any concern about it going bad despite the heat here.

[Thaddeus]

They found the pork came from a pig that had died while giving birth.

Can anyone explain the relevance of this statement?

There is no relevance, apart from column inches..... and giving armchair detectives something to waste further time on.

[tominbkk]

Thailand is the only place where I've been asked would i like my chicken stake rare, medium or well-done...

I've been here coming on almost 20 years now and have never had a Thai person serve me chicken not well done, intentionally, anyway.Or offer it to me in a rawer state than well done. Pork and beef, different story.

[craigt3365]

They found the pork came from a pig that had died while giving birth.

Can anyone explain the relevance of this statement?

There is no relevance, apart from column inches..... and giving armchair detectives something to waste further time on.

Actually, it is highly relevant. If the pig died from a disease, it could have huge consequences. One reason you can't eat "road kill". How an animal dies can sometimes even have an impact on the quality of the meat. If they are in an agitated state, chemicals are secreted, end up in the blood stream and "taint" the meat.

This from a quick search on Google:

Some of the “cleaning” features of the pig are remarkable.

One such feature is located under its hooves. Often referred to as poison ducts or running sores, these “sores” act as a conduit for poisons to ooze from the pig’s body. This is one reason pigs can eat poisonous snakes that would kill other creatures and not be affected themselves. However, these ducts will often become “plugged” from the amount of toxins pigs must excrete from their bodies. If this becomes the case, a farmer must quickly have the pig slaughtered and sent to the market before it dies. As you may well imagine, the meat from such an animal is riddled with parasites and toxins.

Reading the full article might make you become a vegetarian!!