{"id":58613,"date":"2026-06-26T16:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=58613"},"modified":"2026-06-26T16:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:12:08","slug":"public-health-authorities-investigating-foodborne-illness-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/public-health-authorities-investigating-foodborne-illness-outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Health Authorities investigating foodborne illness outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Public Health Authorities are investigating an outbreak of foodborne illness identified on 25 June 2026 among a group of employees following the consumption of lunch served at their workplace.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A total of 19 persons were assessed at the Accident and Emergency Department, while 2 individuals required hospital admission. All affected persons received the necessary medical care promptly and are currently reported to be in a stable condition.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upon notification of the incident, the Public Health Authorities immediately initiated an epidemiological investigation to identify the source and extent of the outbreak. Concurrently, the Food Safety and Security Authority commenced an urgent investigation into the food items served, including the collection and analysis of relevant food and environmental samples to determine the source of the contamination. As a precautionary measure and in line with the Food Safety and Security Act, the Authority has also issued an Emergency Control Order, and the kitchen facilities have been closed pending further investigations and the implementation of corrective measures.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The competent authorities are working closely together to determine the cause of the outbreak and to ensure that all necessary measures are implemented to mitigate any potential risk to public health.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Public Health Authorities reassure the public that all necessary precautions and control measures are being undertaken to safeguard public health.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Members of the public are also reminded of the importance of observing good food hygiene practices, particularly during periods of hot weather. Food should be stored, handled, prepared, and cooked safely to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Particular attention should be paid to maintaining appropriate refrigeration temperatures, avoiding cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods, and ensuring thorough cooking of food products.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Health Authorities would also like to express their sincere appreciation to all healthcare professionals, including the medical, nursing, ambulance, emergency department, inpatient, laboratory, support staff, public health medics and Food Safety and Security Officials who responded swiftly and professionally to the sudden influx of patients requiring care and investigation of the situation. Their dedication, expertise and commitment ensured that all affected individuals received timely treatment, appropriate medical attention and control of the situation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_58613\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"58613\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Public Health Authorities are investigating an outbreak of foodborne illness identified on 25 June 2026 among a group of employees following the consumption of lunch served at their workplace. A total of 19 persons were assessed at the Accident and Emergency Department, while 2 individuals required hospital admission. All affected persons received the necessary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_58613\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"58613\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 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height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-150x100.jpg",150,100,true],"medium":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"td_0x420":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"td_80x60":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-80x60.jpg",80,60,true],"td_218x150":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_324x400":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-324x300.jpg",324,300,true],"td_696x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"td_1068x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"td_100x70":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-100x70.jpg",100,70,true],"td_265x198":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-265x198.jpg",265,198,true],"td_324x160":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-324x160.jpg",324,160,true],"td_324x235":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-324x235.jpg",324,235,true],"td_356x220":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-356x220.jpg",356,220,true],"td_356x364":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-356x300.jpg",356,300,true],"td_533x261":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01-450x261.jpg",450,261,true],"td_534x462":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"td_696x385":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"td_741x486":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false],"td_1068x580":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mater_Dei_01.jpg",450,300,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Bernard Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Public Health Authorities are investigating an outbreak of foodborne illness identified on 25 June 2026 among a group of employees following the consumption of lunch served at their workplace. A total of 19 persons were assessed at the Accident and Emergency Department, while 2 individuals required hospital admission. All affected persons received the necessary&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58613"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58615,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58613\/revisions\/58615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}