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More than 30 people were treated for suspected food poisoning after eating an entree of rabbit terrine at an Essendon Football Club lunch at yesterday's Anzac Day clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Key points:
- Seven people were taken to hospital with gastrointestinal symptoms after being treated by paramedics
- Entertainer Jane Clifton said people "started fainting" after eating the rabbit terrine entree
- Victorian health authorities are investigating the cause and ensuring the rooms are "thoroughly cleaned"
Victorian health authorities confirmed seven guests who attended the president's club function in the Olympic Room were taken to hospital with gastrointestinal symptoms.
They were all treated in the emergency department but no-one was admitted to hospital.
The function was hosted by the AFL and the Essendon Football Club.
"We are currently investigating to determine the cause of these incidents," a Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) spokesman said.
"MCC and our catering partner Epicure, are fully cooperating with the DHHS [Department of Health and Human Services] investigation as they seek to determine the cause of yesterday's medical incident.
"There have been no reports of ongoing illness so DHHS believe this is an isolated event."
'It was just chaos'
Entertainer Jane Clifton was at the function and said guests had just eaten an entree of rabbit terrine when "people started fainting" during a speech by one of the original Rats of Tobruk.
"He was giving this beautiful speech and we were all focused on it then this medical emergency is happening," she told the ABC.
"There are ambulance people coming over to people going 'do you know where you are, what's your name' as the speeches are going on.
"Stretchers were coming, almost a sort of triage unit was happening and it was just chaos but only in our section of the room near the doors."
During the minute of silence, everyone in the dining room went out to their seats in the stands and more people fainted, including two teenage boys, Ms Clifton said.
Tickets for the president's lunch and game cost $725.
Photo:
Rabbit terrine is sometimes prepared wrapped in bacon. (Instagram: _mindfulmunch file, photo)
Ms Clifton ate the terrine and did not get sick but she doubts it was food poisoning because it happened before the guests had eaten the main course.
"My instinct [is] that it wasn't the food but maybe these things happen quickly," she said.
"I feel just fine, thanks very much, but … I started to get anxious and think oh God … maybe I'll be next… not even knowing what it was, whether it was something in the air conditioning or something in the food."
She said it was "incredibly warm" in the room.
'Dropping like flies"
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, who was also at the function, praised the work of Ambulance Victoria paramedics who he said had to deal with "quite a few" people at the same time.
"They set up a situation room. The response was good and I'm hoping everyone's okay today," he told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
"I saw some people fainting and I saw some people distressed and some [were] sort of light-headed."
Collingwood Football Club president Eddie McGuire was also at the lunch and said people were "dropping like flies".
"It [the terrine] was served to me but I didn't want to have a go," he said.
"It was an amazing situation because people were literally, during the speeches, dropping like flies around us.
"In fact, at one stage you could see people … during the minute of silence, stand up and then when it got to the national anthem people were going left, right and centre."
'It happened so quickly'
Jan McTaggart was at the luncheon with her husband and said she suddenly felt faint shortly after eating a rabbit and chicken terrine.
"A young boy in front of me completely passed out and I felt a bit dizzy and faint then myself," she said.
She said she saw people vomiting and went to the sick-bay.
"It was quite strange that it happened so quickly," Ms McTaggart said.
"I felt sick all day until I went to bed last night, nauseous and dizzy."
She said before she started to feel unwell, she had enjoyed her "very nice" meal.
"Actually, I must say, the food was delicious."
Toxin the possible culprit
Victorian's Acting Chief Health Officer, Dr Angie Bone, said the Department of Health and Human Services was working with the City of Melbourne and the MCC to investigate.
She said samples would be taken from food, the kitchen and from people who fell ill, and results could be known in several weeks.
"We can speculate that there could be a number of issues to do either with the food that was served or the way that it was handled … we don't know precisely what bug it was and that will perhaps be discovered through our investigation," she said.
Dr Bone said because the onset of sickness was so rapid, experts could speculate it was a toxin, rather than a bacteria or a virus, which she said tended to take longer before causing illness.
Dr Bone said fainting was quite common in food poisoning cases, especially if the onset was rapid.
"You're essentially losing a lot of fluid, either by vomiting or diarrhoea, and that can cause an impact and make you feel fairly faint and dizzy," she said.
Collingwood won the game in a four-point thriller with more than 92,000 fans on hand, the fourth largest crowd on record.
After the match, some Essendon supporters booed when Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury was awarded the Anzac Medal for best on ground.
In his post-match press conference, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley slammed the supporters.
"Shame on anyone that booed a champion," he said.
Topics: food-poisoning, diseases-and-disorders, health, australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000, vic
First posted