Hundreds of people may have suffered food poisoning after eating in a Co Mayo hotel. The Western Health Board confirmed yesterday that over 200 people were being treated for food poisoning after they ate at the three-star Pontoon Bridge Hotel, popular with angling tourists.
The kitchens of the hotel closed voluntarily on Tuesday, following reports of illness among people who had eaten there over the weekend.
The Western Health Board is attempting to trace upwards of 300 people who attended a wedding, and others who had lunch or dinner in the hotel last Saturday or Sunday.
The hotel's owner, Ms Ann Geary, said yesterday: "I have been in business a long time and take great pride in the quality and standard of our service. We have voluntarily put ourselves in the hands of the health board since Tuesday and we can only hope that the source of the problem is identified very soon."
The Western Health Board director of public health, Dr Declan McKeown, said: "We have been in contact with 60 people who dined in the hotel last weekend. Forty-five of them have been ill. We cannot, as yet, identify any particular food poison.
"We are asking anyone who ate in the hotel over the weekend, whether they have been ill since or not, to contact the community clinic in Castlebar to complete a brief questionnaire on what they consumed. The clinic can be contacted at 094-22333."