Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

Central Louisiana State Hospital
Clostridium Perfringens Outbreak

BacteriaThe following information on the Central Louisiana State Hospital Clostridium perfringens outbreak is provided by Pritzker Olsen law firm. Food safety attorney Fred Pritzker has appeared on CBS News, Fox News and local TV stations around the country. He has been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Lawyers USA, Law & Politics and other publications. To contact Pritzker Olsen about a clostridium perfringens lawsuit, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online form for a free consultation.

Central Louisiana State Hospital Clostridium Perfringens
Associated with Chicken Salad

An outbreak of perfringens poisoning caused by Clostridium perfringens at Central Louisiana State Hospital in Pineville, Louisiana has killed 3 and sickened over 40, according to health officials at the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.  Epidemiological evidence suggests that chicken salad served at the hospital was contaminated with Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens).  According to health officials, the patients who had the chicken salad were 23 times more likely to show symptoms of perfringens poisoning.

The patients who contracted Clostridium perfringens began showing symptoms of the C. perfringens infections on May 7, 2010.  Within 24 hours, a 43-year-old woman, 41-year-old man and 52-year-old man died.

What can be done to prevent
Clostridium perfringensinfection?

Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) is a bacterium that can contaminate food, forming spores that spread throughout the food. These spores produce a food poisoning toxin that makes people sick when it gets to the small intestine. The illness caused by C. perfringens is called perfringens poisoning.

In most instances, the actual cause of poisoning by C. perfringens is temperature abuse of prepared foods. Small numbers of the organisms are often present after cooking and multiply to food poisoning levels during cool down and storage of prepared foods.

Institutional feeding (such as hospitals) where large quantities of food are prepared several hours before serving is the most common circumstance in which perfringens poisoning occurs. The young and elderly are the most frequent victims of perfringens poisoning. Except in the case of pig-bel syndrome, complications are few in persons under 30 years of age. Elderly persons are more likely to experience prolonged or severe symptoms.

What can be done to prevent Clostridium perfringensinfection?

To prevent Clostridium perfringens, food handlers should be sure to wash your hands before preparing or serving foods and after handling raw meat or poultry. Meat and poultry based foods should be cooked thoroughly. Clostridium perfringens grows best between 45° and 140° F., so it is best to keep hot foods hot (above 140° F.) and cold foods cold (below 40° F.). If a large portion of food is leftover, it should be divided into smaller portions not over three inches deep to refrigerate so it cools quickly. Foods should be refrigerated immediately and not left at room temperature to cool. Prepared food should not be left unrefrigerated for more than two hours. Food should be reheated to at least that 165° F.


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