Three more people have been hospitalised due to the salmonella food poisoning outbreak linked to a Chinese restaurant in Co Wicklow. However, the Department of Agriculture announcement that it had traced the outbreak to eggs imported from the North was yesterday disputed by agriculture authorities there.
The eight in hospital were said by the Eastern Health Board to be recovering. The latest total of cases being linked to the outbreak, caused by contaminated egg in fried rice, was 80 people.
But agriculture officials in Northern Ireland said a firm link between the eggs and the outbreak had yet to be established.
"I don't think the infection has been found in the egg supplies that they have received," said Dr Margaret Feore, principal veterinary officer of the Department of Agriculture in Belfast.
"They have found the organism, yes, but there is more than one source of salmonellosis. There are human carriers, there are other food sources which can have this infection contamination in them."
Very little information had been received from officials in the Republic, she said, but investigations were being carried out at the two egg producers named.
"We have gone to premises and given public health advice to the operators. We have also agreed that we will carry out environmental sampling of the premises."
Dr Feore maintained that Northern Ireland had an "excellent" reputation for disease-free eggs. "We believe that the risk, particularly in Northern Ireland eggs, is extremely low."
But public health officials warned people in the North not to eat raw eggs or raw egg products. Dr Margaret Boyle of the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland said: "Everyone should avoid eating raw eggs and home-made uncooked egg dishes such as mayonnaise or mousses.
"For those people who are sick, elderly, pregnant or prepare food for toddlers and babies, any eggs should be thoroughly cooked until the white and yolk are solid."
