Illnesses reported after Delta Hotel Christmas parties, says chief public health officer

There have been 59 reports of people falling ill after they attended Christmas parties at the Delta Hotel Saturday night, according to P.E.I.'s chief public health officer.

Dr. Heather Morrison said the primary symptoms are vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.

It is premature to speculate the origin of the illness.— James Tingley, Delta hotel manager

She said there have been no hospitalizations and most people reported feeling better a day or two after the symptoms started. 

Most people fell ill one or two days after the function, which included an extensive buffet, but Morrison said it's not clear yet whether the illness is food-related or caused by a virus. 

"Maybe there's been a virus that has been impacted in terms of the food or someone who was touching one of the serving spoons, especially in a buffet-style event," she said.

Hotel staff surveyed

Questionnaires were sent out yesterday to staff at the Delta who either helped prepare food or were serving that night, and to the 165 people who attended. Fifty percent of the guest surveys have been returned, with 59 reporting illness, and 23 reporting they did not get sick.

Morrison said three office functions were held at the Delta that night. The three parties didn't share one buffet but all had food items in common and the same staff prepared the food.

Fifty of the people who have reported being sick are with Veterans Affairs Canada.

"It's not always the easiest thing to figure out or try to pinpoint. We look at menu, we look at what food items may have been consumed by those who are sick and those who are not sick and try to see which ones match."

Health inspectors have made two visits to the hotel to investigate cleanliness and food-handling practices.

Food samples left over from the buffet were also collected and have been frozen for possible future testing once more information comes back from the questionnaires. 

The hotel's general manager James Tingley told CBC News that as soon as the Delta was notified of the situation, staff immediately took steps to sanitize the hotel's public areas. 

Premature to speculate

"The hotel's parent company Marriott takes hotel hygiene and cleanliness very seriously, and has standards that either meet or exceed public health department regulations," said Tingley.  

"It is premature to speculate the origin of the illness and whether or not exposure to the source took place at the hotel or somewhere else."

Morrison agreed, adding people can inadvertently transmit viruses even before they realize they are sick.

"And so perhaps they were shaking people's hands or touching some of the food utensils and then it's transferred from person to person."

Morrison hopes to have more to report in the next few days, noting there have been no hospitalizations and most people have been reporting feeling better one to two days after the symptoms start.