Health department investigates Disney's 'Wild Africa Trek'

[Dixie Springs]

From 'Click Orlando' (via Drudge)


Officials investigate link between dozens of illnesses, Animal Kingdom tour

Health department investigates Disney's 'Wild Africa Trek'

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -
The Orange County Health Department is investigating Walt Disney World's "Wild Africa Trek" experience after dozens of parkgoers became ill.

Orange County Health Department spokesman Dain Weister confirmed with Local 6 that the majority of the illnesses, described as a stomach bug, were reported in June.

The trek features VIP access to crocodiles, hippos and exotic animals in Disney's Animal Kingdom through a guided tour and a tasting of African-inspired foods on a savannah.

Symptoms were nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain, Weister said. There were no hospitalizations and the health department is still investigating.

Disney enforced cleaning of surfaces and hand sanitizing after the sickness outbreak. Weister said they inspected the restaurant that provides food during the tour, but no issues came up.

Disney officials confirmed they have taken precautionary steps in response to the sicknesses.

"We are working closely with the Orange County Health Department to review the situation," said Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger.

[Pirate Granny]

We went last December...no issues...unless they had an issue keeping the food cold while waiting for people to arrive at look-out where we ate. Perhaps they need a frig there during the hot summer months.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Oh ick! How rotten! I'm sure they are working crazy hard to avoid this from happening again.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Doesn't the food for this come from Boma or Jiko??? Unless I am thinking of some tour for DAK...

[TiggeRia]

I think the food comes from the Tusker House. We did this tour mid May with no issues. It was fabulous and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

[darthmacho]

I hope they have the issues solved by our 2014 trip, because that's going to be at the top of our list of things to do!

[BrerGnat]

At any point in this tour, do you actually TOUCH any animals? Or, touch any areas that the animals are living in?

Some animals (particularly turtles and some lizards) carry Salmonella on their bodies.

I would imagine that something as simple as touching a turtle shell could make a lot of people very sick if they do not properly wash their hands before eating...

[TiggeRia]

At no time did we come even close to coming in contact with any animals. There are two spots where you overlook the hippos and crocodiles, but are kept at quite a distance. The rest of the time was on the safari truck or at the lookout for the "lunch".

[DizneyFreak2002]

I think the food comes from the Tusker House. We did this tour mid May with no issues. It was fabulous and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Tusker House provides the food?? Then I was thinking of one of the other tours which include breakfast at either Boma or Jiko...

[MaterializedHaunt]

Like they said, there is no issues with where the food was coming from. So, like someone else said, it may be because they dont have a refridgerator for the food while the people are going to get their lunch? Im not sure. I hope they have a follow-up on this article.

Does anyone know if they have cancelled tours as of right now? or are they still going on with them?

[Polynesian Dweller]

Like they said, there is no issues with where the food was coming from. So, like someone else said, it may be because they dont have a refridgerator for the food while the people are going to get their lunch? Im not sure. I hope they have a follow-up on this article.

Does anyone know if they have cancelled tours as of right now? or are they still going on with them?

They are still going on. This has not been a recurring issue, just in June. This makes it something like food supply/suppliers on those days, an employee who brought disease with them, or guest disease infecting each other, or similar.All of those are hard to pin down but it's clear it is not an ongoing food handling or preparation issue.

[faline]

From what I read, they first checked the kitchen which supplies to food eaten on the tour and found no problems. The conjecture is that someone - possibly even a guest with poor hygiene habits may have been the precipatating factor that has spread this intestinal illness from that point on. Hopefully, the deep cleaning Disney is doing will eliminate the issue.

[MNNHFLTX]

From what I read, they first checked the kitchen which supplies to food eaten on the tour and found no problems. The conjecture is that someone - possibly even a guest with poor hygiene habits may have been the precipatating factor that has spread this intestinal illness from that point on. Hopefully, the deep cleaning Disney is doing will eliminate the issue.

Most outbreaks of this type (that cannot be traced to a bacterial source in the food) are related to viral source from a human host, as Linda mentioned. Many years back I went to a day-long nursing conference at a university in the city where I was living. Twenty-four hours later I was experiencing severe nausea/vomiting and abdominal pain. Because I was pregnant at the time, my OB doctor advised me to go to the ER at the hospital where I worked for IV fluids. Once there, my husband and I realized that there was a whole slew of students from the university with the same symptoms. Turns out that 90% of the people who attended the conference got sick and it was related to a single person who was handling the pastries for the morning coffee break, and he apparently got the bug from someone else at the school who was sick.

Once Disney was aware of the situation, I'm sure they followed all the procedures to ensure that all of their food-handling employees were following proper hand-washing procedures and ensuring that guests were doing the same. I highly doubt that there would be a re-occurrence of the same virus.

[Cinderelley]

Human source was my first thought too. People tend to blame many things, when proper hygiene and such could have prevented problems.

[BrerGnat]

But if the Health Department is investigating, doesn't that point to some sort of food poisoning cause like Salmonella, E.Coli, or Listeria? I didn't think the Health Department investigated "stomach bugs."

I wonder if any of these patients tested positive for any of these pathogens?

This article might not be providing all the relevant information.

[joonyer]

But if the Health Department is investigating, doesn't that point to some sort of food poisoning cause like Salmonella, E.Coli, or Listeria? I didn't think the Health Department investigated "stomach bugs."

I thought those things were stomach bugs (bacteria, viruses)(among others, of course)

[MNNHFLTX]

But if the Health Department is investigating, doesn't that point to some sort of food poisoning cause like Salmonella, E.Coli, or Listeria? I didn't think the Health Department investigated "stomach bugs."

I wonder if any of these patients tested positive for any of these pathogens?

This article might not be providing all the relevant information.

Health departments investigate all episodic outbreaks, especially when it is related to food. The incident I was involved in was investigated by the county health department and a report was made available to the public. If they don't find any contamination in the food or preparation surfaces, that usually points towards viral transmission. I don't think testing people for the bacteria you mention is often done as many people already carry them in their digestive tract (especially E. Coli) and by the time they get around to it the infections will have run their course.