In the Caribbean, there was an acute salmonella epidemic, which was a catastrophe to the Healthcare System. In order to cope with the disease and bring the situation back to normal, it is necessary to identify the causes and sources of the harmful bacteria. Thanks to this study, we have obtained up-to-date data that allow us to compile all the necessary information. The population suffering from the disease is divided into two groups, permanent residents of the Caribbean and tourists. The statistic counted those who were in Trinidad and Tobago between 1988 and 1997.
The study revealed several reasons for the contamination of people. It should be emphasized that Salmonella is highly contagious so when individuals are in close contact, the number of those infected increases exponentially (Indar-Harrinauth et al., 2014). Nevertheless, the study took a long time to conduct because the public health system had serious irregularities, in particular, delaying or not sending material to the laboratory for further study (Indar-Harrinauth et al., 2014). This led to an outbreak because doctors failed to respond in time to alert the population. Another factor needed to identify the behavior and habits of the citizens. The fact is that most people’s food priorities include eggs, butter and ice cream. These foods are carriers of salmonella, and the situation is exacerbated by holidays, such as New Year’s Eve or Christmas Day, when people eat more food during the celebrations (Indar-Harrinauth et al., 2014). On these holidays, chicken dishes were especially in demand, and the meat came from the same farms that supplied the infected eggs. Thus, it should be emphasized that the main source of salmonella in the Caribbean was products from agricultural farms.
In order to draw the necessary conclusions, it is necessary to consider a list of foods that are carriers of salmonella:
- Raw meat.
- Poultry.
- Prepared meat products.
- Eggs from chickens and especially duck eggs.
- Unpasteurized milk.
- Pastry products with cream.
According to the results of inspections of the farms, 60% of the production facilities were contaminated, which contributed to mass contamination (Indar-Harrinauth et al., 2014, p. 9). Among other things, these farms did not comply with sanitary norms, as all were found to be dirty and to have a foul odor.
The analysis revealed the following connections between this public care issue and the population. The first is that there are only ten producer farms that do not pass veterinary control for a large number of people and tourists. The second inequality is the low number of doctors, and there is a shortage of specialists. This assumption can be proven that tests have been withheld from laboratories even though the symptoms of salmonellosis are striking, in the form of chills or vomiting. In other words, the lack of specialists has contributed to the untimely medical treatment of citizens and the lack of information for laboratories. A final inequality is the failure to follow hygiene rules. Salmonella infections are caused by raw, unwashed, or poorly cooked food, as well as by dirty hands. In other words, society neglected the management of medical care, and all these factors combined to cause a considerable epidemic.
Thus, food can be said to be the main cause of the epidemic because three-quarters of the eggs consumed by the Caribbean were obtained from the above-mentioned farms. This theory is also confirmed by the fact that children aged 0 to 4 years had extremely high statistics of infection (Indar-Harrinauth et al., 2014, p. 10). Children tend to eat sweets, including ice cream, which also includes eggs and dairy products. Based on all of the above, unsanitary conditions on farms and hiding the problem from laboratories served as a catalyst for the spread of the disease.
Reference
Indar-Harrinauth, L., Daniels, N., Prabbakar, P., Brown, C., Bacuss-Taylor, G., Commissiong, E., Reid, H., and Hospedales, J. (2014). Salmonella in the Caribbean. Southern New Hampshire University. Web.