Indonesian earthquake victims suffer food poisoning at shelter

I have been known to tell my partner, your attempts at help are futile, please stay away.

Ruslan Sangadji of The Jakarta Post reports that dozens of people from Kabonena and Tipo subdistricts in Palu, Central Sulawesi, who were displaced by a recent earthquake, have been hospitalized for reported food poisoning after consuming donated food on Saturday.

Badrun, one of the food poisoning victims, said the food was distributed to the shelter at around 11 a.m. local time. The displaced people did not feel anything strange as they ate the food but an hour later they started to feel dizzy and nauseous, he said.

The victims – mostly children – were rushed to Anutapura Palu Hospital.

Anutapura Palu Hospital deputy director for medical services Herry Mulyadi said his office had recorded that at least 38 people had been admitted to the hospital, while others were taken to other hospitals.

“Every single one of them complained about feeling dizzy and nauseous,” Herry said.

By Sunday, more than half of the food poisoning victims had been discharged.

Central Sulawesi Governor Longki Djanggola, who visited the victims at the hospital on Saturday evening, said that everyone should ensure that the food and drinks they donated were safe for consumption.

“I thank everyone who took part in helping the displaced people through their donations; but people, at the same time, have to remain vigilant before consuming [the food],” he said.

Samples of the food had been taken to Central Palu’s medical laboratory for examination, Longki said.

It remains unclear who sent the food to the shelter.

Toilets’ water tanks confirmed to have caused norovirus in Pyeongchang

South Korea’s public health authorities have confirmed that the “water tanks of portable toilets” were the reason behind an outbreak of norovirus at the host city of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics that affected around 300 security personnel for the event last month. 

The authorities announced Sunday that the water tanks of mobile toilets were what caused the norovirus infection as a result of its epidemiological investigation of Horeb Youth Camp Center and other related facilities. According to the investigation, the genotype of the virus detected in water tanks was matched with those of patients. There had been around 570 portable lavatories set up during the Olympic period and ironically, water used to wash hands or brush teeth before leaving a toilet for the sake of hygiene was the culprit of infection.

In Indonesia, an elementary school teacher in Cempedak Lobang village, North Sumatra, appears to have escaped severe punishment, despite forcing one of her students to engage in a revolting punishment that could have easily endangered his health.

Last week, the parents of a student, identified by his initials MB, complained about their kid’s teacher, a woman with the initials RM, who subjected their son to needlessly vile corporal punishment simply because he didn’t bring his homework to school.

“My son was told to lick the toilet 12 times. But after four licks, he vomited,” said SH, MB’s mother, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.

(Considering the state of the toilet as shown in the picture below, it’s surprising that MB managed to get in any licks before throwing up…)

Daddy, why is there airport security? More than 2300 turtles seized at Jakarta international airport

While traveling recently with daughter Sorenne, she asked why she had to go through security at the airports.

Pig-nosed-Turtle-seizure-580I tried to explain, but probably failed.

Maybe this turtle story will help.

Authorities in Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport have foiled a bid to smuggle an astonishing 2,350 Pig-nosed Turtles out of Indonesia this week, highlighting the continuing pressure on a species sought after for its rarity and exotic looks.

The turtles, found only on the island of Papua (shared between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) and Australia, were packaged in boxes falsely labeled as mangrove crabs and were bound for Shang Hai, China, via Singapore, where they would have been sold as pets or, in some cases, for consumption.

The seizure, made on 17th January by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries via the Fish Quarantine Inspection Agency, is not the first of its kind.  In January 2014, Indonesian officials seized more than 8,000 baby Pig-nosed Turtles hidden in suitcases suspected to be destined for Singapore and China.  Shortly after that, on 12th January 2014, authorities in Hong Kong intercepted a shipment of some 2,700 Pig-nosed Turtles coming from Jakarta, Indonesia, falsely declared as live tropical fish. 

“Pig-nosed Turtles are being absolutely hammered for the lucrative, but illegal pet trade” said Dr Chris R. Shepherd, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.  “It is highly unlikely this species can withstand such enormous offtake.”

Food safety a habit: Indonesia

Chef Vindex Tengker told the Jakarta Post that Indonesians have so far been lucky that, despite a lack of awareness on food safety, things have been going rather well, adding, “I have spent 24 years working around kitchens around the globe. I’ve been in the US, Spain, Turkey, Japan and Vindex TengkerMexico; food safety is a problem everywhere. Food safety is attitude; it takes time to develop an attitude. You have to do it each and every day.” 

Wasis Gunarto, a general manager of a well-known cafe and restaurant franchise in Jakarta, said food businesspeople were in the dark about food safety standards and certification.

“We don’t have much knowledge on food safety standards from the government and which body is in charge of the certification,” Wasis said.
He said his company opted to cooperate with an international hotel chain and have their restaurant employees trained under international hotel standards.

“I think the government has a lot of homework to do in this food safety standards issue. They should not only focus on restaurant operators but also apply food safety standards on produce distributors and suppliers,” Wasis said.

The story notes the World Health Organization has devised five keys to safer food: clean; separate; cook; keep food at safe temperatures; and use safe water and raw materials.

As in source food from safe sources. FightBac folks, are you listening?