Public Health believes the origin of the diarrhea outbreak at the Emserso Hotel in Playa de Palma is food

“Given the speed with which it happened and the number of people affected, everything points to it being food poisoning,” Elena Esteban, Director General of Public Health, said yesterday.He added that almost all cases appeared at the same time and that the symptoms (vomiting and diarrhea) began to subside equally.

These assessments conflict Those collected by this newspaper last Tuesday from an alleged The doctor who introduced himself as Doctor Immersoand appears to be linked to the Juaneda group, Which stated categorically that the vomiting and diarrhea that a large number of hotel guests were already experiencing was due to a viral infection and was therefore not transmitted through eating food. This doctor also confirmed that he works for Immerso, not the hotel establishment. The GM said she didn't know who Immerso's supposed doctor was, someone they didn't have any kind of contact with.

The General Director indicated that the organization's kitchens are currently closed. After visits by Food Safety Administration inspectors. but Vigilance One of the reasons for this closure has not yet been revealed: Technicians would have discovered deficiencies in the food handling process served to their customers.

As we remember, the closure of the kitchens has so far been attributed to irregularities in their infrastructure, but nothing was mentioned about possible bad practices in handling the products that will later be served in the hotel buffet.

There are no control samples

“Samples were taken from (kitchen) surfaces, and from some food scraps, but they lacked witness samples,” Esteban said, referring to a new obligation in the restaurant sector: keeping a sample of dishes frozen for a period of time. .It is presented to the customer.

Esteban also confirmed that they are conducting inspections in other establishments of the same chain in the area. (Palma beach) The exact origin of the gastroenteritis outbreak is expected to be known next week, once the results of ongoing tests are available.

The Director General concluded his speech by calling for greater responsibility on the part of restaurant owners and users by acknowledging that with the current number of inspectors and the unstoppable growth of restaurant establishments “we will never get there (to conduct inspections as regularly as we should).”