Sometimes a story is just too ironic to ignore. A department of health investigating its own luncheon meets that criteria.
The Sante Fe Department of Health held a holiday luncheon a few days ago, as most workplaces do this time of year. But what’s strange about this holiday party is that 70 staff members became sick and now the Department is investigating its own holiday luncheon.
Health Secretary Lynn Gallagher said in a e-mail to staff members that they haven’t yet been able to zero in on a cause or which food that caused the outbreak, though the Epidemiology and Response Division, “believes that there may have been cross-contamination of menu items served during the luncheon.”
Not something you would expect at a Christmas potluck for the Department of Health. Lab results are still pending, but Gallagher believed it could be one of bacillus cereus or clostridium perfringens, that caused the outbreak. Both are toxins that can cause food-borne illness.
Gallagher’s department is responsible for investigating food-borne illnesses like these, but it’s probably not every day she investigates her own department. The event was catered by an unidentified local company who probably won’t be catering many Department of Health events again.
[Santa Fe New Mexican/Photo: Office Christmas Party]
