Microbiological contamination of watermelons, not food adulteration, was the likely cause of the recent fatality and illnesses that followed by the consumption of the fruit in Kushtia and Manikganj, tests results by the IEDCR have found.
Explaining the findings of an outbreak investigation report by the Institute of Epidemiological Disease Centre Research (IEDCR), the institute’s Director Dr Mahmudur Rahman said: “No harmful chemical contamination including formalin, organo-phosphorous compounds, artificial dye or organo-chlorine compounds were found during the laboratory test of the watermelon sample. Watermelon is safe for people to eat. Microbiological contamination was the cause of the child’s death and sickness.”
The findings were made by testing serum, urine and stool samples of patients at the IEDCR laboratory and a separate test of watermelon samples at the National Food Safety Laboratory of Institute of Public Health (IPH) at Mohakhali, Dr Mahmudur said.
The IEDCR chief further advised people to refrain from eating any watermelon that was not intact prior to cutting it, adding that the fruits should be washed before cutting and avoided if it smelled or tasted foul.
While disclosing the findings at a programme in the IEDCR auditorium yesterday, authorities said a nine-year-old girl named Smriti died on April 20 after consuming a watermelon bought by her father, Askar Ali, from a vendor at the Kumarkhali bus stop. Several other family members of Askar as well as some of their neighbours also fell ill after sharing the fruit.
The fruit vendor, Rezaul Karim, was later arrested in connection with the deaths.
In a separate incident on April 22, nine people also fell ill after consuming watermelons in Manikganj.
A six-member committee, led by Outbreak Investigation Officer Dr Waliur Rahman collected biological samples from patients, while a local magistrate also sent watermelon samples to the IPH lab for testing.
Stool culture for Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, Cholera (Vibrio) Polymer Change Reaction test for rota virus and for E Coli diagnostic tests were done at the IEDCR laboratory. Two samples tested positive for Entero-aggregative E Coli (EAEC) and one culture yielded positive for Salmonella species.
The National Food Safety Laboratory ran 36 kinds of chemical tests, but found no traces of chemicals including formalin, organo-phosphorous compound, artificial dye, and organo-chlorine compounds.
Saying bacterial growth and EAEC was detected in test samples, the IEDCR director added that bacterial toxins could develop rapid symptoms.
When asked about the death of the girl in Kushtia, Dr Mahmudur said the child suffered from severe diarrhoea and had died because the doctors could not attend to her properly as there were an overwhelming number of patients admitted at the same time.