Following a fatal food poisoning outbreak in a nursing home in the Victorian state of Australia, its chief Health Officer has been sacked. //

Opposition parties in Victoria have slammed her handling of the poisoning outbreak in which four lives have been lost till now.

The state is situated in the southeastern corner of Australia and is densely populated.

Liberal Leader Ted Baillieu branded the ministers and her department's handling of the issue as an "extraordinary failure of public health administration."

Federal health inspectors have since inspected the Broughton Hall nursing home and hostel at Camberwell, in Melbourne's inner east, where the outbreak occurred.

Four residents, three men and a woman aged in their 70s and 80s, are believed to have died from salmonella-related gastroenteritis over the Easter period but the minister was not notified until Friday.

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that causes food poisoning and is commonly found in meat and animal waste, particularly poultry.

"It is one of the worst ever public health failures in Victoria's history and we have a minister who says I know nothing. It is unacceptable," Baillieu said.

Twenty residents at the 30-bed Commonwealth-funded home were affected by the illness, which was first detected on April 5. Two people are recovering in hospital.

Rosemary Lester, a doctor attached to Victoria's Department of Human Services (DHS), said she was confident the outbreak had been contained following decontamination of the nursing home's kitchen. Also food was being brought in for residents.

An official of the nursing home sought to take the blame on herself for failure to notify the authorities promptly. "We take full responsibility for not notifying the department, the department are not to blame for not knowing about the outbreak," she said.

"We did contact them on the Tuesday morning as soon as of
'"/>




Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Australian Scientists Silence Cancer Gene
2. Australian Government To Stockpile Anti-Bird Flu Drug Relenza
3. Australian Company Gets $10 million For Developing Skin Cancer Gel
4. Australian Health funds stand accused
5. Australian Court Finds Man Guilty of Spreading HIV/AIDS
6. Australian Scientists Develop Novel Drug To Combat Inflammatory Diseases
7. Sale Of Bird Flu Vaccine to US Planned: Australian Firm
8. Hepatitis C Could Infect 800,000 Australians By 2020
9. Obesity Cost More Than The Australian Health Budget
10. Australian Snake Venom Can Arrest Bleeding During Surgery And Trauma
11. Fat Virus, Ad-36 Blamed For Obesity Epidemic In Australians