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The provided snack
In the past couple of years the spate of food poisoning cases on cruise ships put a big “health alert” smirch on the often laid-back and envied vacation. This year, however, Disney World might be taking that dubious crown. At least, the Wild Africa Trek at the Animal Kingdom could.
NBC News reports that several dozen people became sick at the beginning of June, and the primary link between them was that they’d all gone on the Wild Africa Trek right around the same time. The safari-style tour, that takes guests to parts of the park usually closed to visitors to see African wildlife and includes a park-provided snack, is now the subject of some investigation.
We should be careful, however, not to jump to conclusions. The people who became ill didn’t have food poisoning; instead, their symptoms were much more flu-like: stomach flu, that is. They included: fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. “The thing we’re trying to get everyone to understand,” said Dain Weister of the Orange County, Florida Health Department, which is investigating the outbreak, “is that this is some kind of stomach bug.”
The majority of the illnesses happened over a two-day period in early June, affecting a wide range of people. Adults, children, and even entire families came down with the bug. None of them required hospitalization.
The point to take away from this story is that, despite how I opened my article, there’s no reason to become concerned about what happened. I could easily see it getting skewed in interpretation and people taking it to mean that they need to avoid the Wild Africa Trek. That’s just silly: one, because it sounds like the kind of thing that could happen anywhere, and two, the attraction’s stayed open since then and no one else has gotten sick.
Weister, a health official, has called this just a stomach bug, and that’s what it sounds like to me. Everyone infected was unlucky, but it’s the kind of thing that happens sometimes. It’s not a widespread outbreak, just a largish case of a stomach bug that made headlines simply because it happened at Disney World.
I’ve had the stomach flu twice in my adult life; one time, my husband was infected too, and another I caught it going around the office at which I was working. It just happens, but I’m not going to avoid the people or places from whom and where I contracted it. Such things come and go, and are also difficult to safeguard against at a corporate level (i.e., there’s not a lot Disney can do to prevent guests from spreading bugs amongst each other).
If you’re concerned about catching such things from people, then just remember the Golden Rule of Health: always wash your hands well and often. Otherwise, I wouldn’t avoid the Wild Africa Trek, if you have any upcoming Disney World plans. Sounds like this case is just one of those things that happens, and not the result of any negligence on the part of Disney World staff.
Related Articles:
Disneyland: The Most Sued Place on Earth
Music and Movement: Entertainment at the Animal Kingdom
Fantasyland Expansion Opening Dates
New Disney Animation Resort Opens
*(This image by Big DumpTruck is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
