Translated material
Salmonella Ball
Mass poisoning occurred at the celebration of the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory
In Krasnoyarsk, specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rospotrebnadzor and investigators from the prosecutor's office are investigating the causes and looking for the culprits of the mass poisoning of participants in the annual student ball. After the solemn event organized on Thursday by the governor of the region, Alexander Khloponin, about 150 people were admitted to city hospitals with a diagnosis of acute intestinal infection. Moreover, among the victims were not only excellent students from local universities invited to the reception, but also members of the organizing committee and sponsors of the reception.According to the preliminary findings of doctors, the cause of the illness was stale sandwiches displayed on the buffet tables. The regional prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under the article “provision of services that do not meet security requirements,” and Governor Khloponin took the investigation of the emergency under personal control and demanded that the perpetrators be punished in the strictest possible manner.
According to the administration of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, about 1.5 thousand people gathered at the Siberia International Exhibition Complex on March 1 for the traditional colorful event “IQ Ball 2007,” hosted by TV stars Anton Komolov and Olga Shelest. In addition to the students who distinguished themselves in their studies and social activities, the governor's reception was attended by Alexander Khloponin himself, deputies of the regional legislative assembly, the Krasnoyarsk City Council, rectors of Krasnoyarsk universities and honorary residents of the city. The guests danced, ate and drank. The ball ended around 11 pm with fireworks. And already at about one o'clock in the morning several young people went to the emergency hospital and were diagnosed with acute food poisoning by doctors. As it turned out, they were all participants in the governor's reception.
The scale of the incident became noticeable a day later. On Saturday morning, there were already about 80 people in the infectious diseases department of the Krasnoyarsk city hospital. An additional ten ambulances were allocated to transport people. By Sunday, the number of victims had increased to 150, after which doctors stated that the outbreak of acute intestinal diseases had “subsided.” Students, officials, members of the ball's organizing committee, journalists, and sponsors of the event found themselves in hospital beds. Most of them felt well yesterday, and doctors expect that all of them will be discharged by March 8.
According to preliminary data, the victims showed signs of salmonellosis. Experts plan to make a final diagnosis on Tuesday after conducting thorough laboratory tests. By this time, according to the instructions of the regional governor, doctors will have to examine those present at the ball who did not seek medical help.
Having received preliminary data from experts and interviewed the organizers of the event, specialists from the Krasnoyarsk territorial department of Rospotrebnadzor put forward several versions of what happened. It is possible that the infectious agent could be in the sandwiches displayed on the buffet tables. And the cause of the infection may have been imported meat or chicken products, which since March 3 were banned by Rosselkhoznadzor for import into Russia (in January of this year, agency experts found beef, minced chicken and turkey from the USA, France, Germany, Uruguay and Brazil salmonellosis).
On Saturday, the head of the region, Alexander Khloponin, held an emergency meeting with the heads of healthcare, law enforcement agencies and the organizers of the event. The governor called the incident a “blatant fact” and demanded that the strictest sanctions be applied to those responsible. In addition, as the regional administration stated the day before, the emergency in Krasnoyarsk became the reason for the urgent organization of inspections at local food factories of children's educational and health institutions. The activities of all food outlets on the territory of the Siberia exhibition and business center, where the incident occurred, were suspended.
In addition to Rospotrebnadzor specialists, law enforcement agencies also began checking the companies that supplied food to the student ball participants. On Saturday acting The prosecutor of the city of Krasnoyarsk, Vladimir Chasovikin, opened a case of mass poisoning under Part 1 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provision of services that do not meet safety requirements). Governor Khloponin took personal control of the investigation of the case. On his instructions, an operational headquarters was also created under the regional administration, where news about the health status of the victims can be obtained around the clock.