Scombroid food poisoning among hospital personnel

BACKGROUND Scombroid food poisoning is caused by eating fish with a high concentration of histamine. Histamine is converted from histidine in fish of the Scombroidea family if it is not stored at a sufficiently low temperature. The clinical picture resembles an allergic reaction. CASE DESCRIPTION Twenty-one of our hospital personnel went to the ER, mostly reporting flushing, headache, palpitations and gastro-intestinal symptoms. They had all eaten tuna salad in the staff canteen. The symptoms appeared to be caused by scombroid food poisoning. CONCLUSION As a result of early recognition of the clinical picture and prompt crisis management we were able to prevent the outbreak spreading further.