Of the 1,122 cases of common food-borne illnesses reported in 2013, 550 (48.9 per cent) were just recorded as food poisoning as the pathogens were not identified through culture tests.

Hundreds of suspected food poisoning cases in Dubai go undiagnosed primarily because of the reluctance of doctors in conducting stool tests, experts have opined.

Last year, almost 50 per cent of food-borne illnesses were classified as food poisoning cases without the confirmation of their pathogens, the 9th Dubai International Food Safety Conference (DIFSC) heard on Tuesday.

Dr Fatima Omer, specialist registrar at the Preventive Services Centre of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said of the 1,122 cases of common food-borne illnesses reported in 2013, 550 (48.9 per cent) were just recorded as food poisoning as the pathogens were not identified through culture tests. One of the main reasons for this was cited as the reluctance from doctors in conducting stool tests.

“Doctors are reluctant to give stool samples for lab tests and very often they ask for testing salmonella and dysentery only,” she noted during a presentation on the ‘Role and responsibilities of hospitals in enhancing food-borne disease surveillance and reporting’.

Director of Public Health and Safety Department at DHA’s Health Policy and Strategy Sector Dr Wasif Mohammed Alam said it becomes difficult to find out the source of infection when the pathogen causing a food-borne illness outbreak is not diagnosed.

“The problem can be fixed only when the source is identified. So, we should be careful about recording the history of patients showing symptoms of food poisoning and we must ask for stool analysis,” he told the conference.