The Honeybees family had dinner at the The Copa Brazilian Churrasco in Canberra for Mother’s Day last week and they ended up in hospital with salmonella poisoning.

“My brother started feeling ill at 6:30am and it escalated quite quickly from there. He was screaming in agony and we all just started dropping like flies,” a member of the Honeybee family Robert told Australia’s Today/Tonight current affairs program.

Robert and his five family members went to Canberra Hospital, where due to the sheer number of people affected by the salmonella outbreak meant staff had to activate an emergency lockdown protocol.

“It was a bit like a war zone. The nurses at the hospital were in disbelief as more and more people came in,” Robert said.

“The whole family, especially those of us that don’t have sick days, took two weeks off work potentially.

“Everyone will be expecting some form of compensation, from the way everyone was feeling the severe pain and the long-term suffering.”

ACT Chief Health Officer, Dr Paul Kelly said the number of suspected Salmonella cases linked Mother’s Day dinning at the restaurant now tops 140, of which 30 are confirmed cases and 15 people have been hospitalized.