Latest news with #Sollai
News18
18 hours ago
- Health
- News18
Italy records four deaths in botulism outbreak linked to contaminated food
Rome [Italy], August 20 (ANI): Public concern is growing in Italy as several people have been hospitalised after consuming contaminated food, with botulinum food poisoning claiming the life of a 62-year-old woman in Sardinia on Tuesday. This brings the death toll in the country to four, Euro News Sollai had been in the hospital in Monserrato, in the province of Cagliari, for several weeks. The woman had consumed a guacamole dish at the Fiesta Latina in Monserrato at the end of same dish had earlier caused the death of Roberta Pitzalis, 36, who died at the Businco hospital in Cagliari, with the cause of death confirmed by autopsy. A 14-year-old girl remains hospitalised in the same city, Euro News addition to the two Sardinian victims, two other people died in Calabria from botulism. The cases have been traced back to contaminated industrial and household Alessandro Locatelli, director of the Maugeri Poison Control Centre in Pavia, told Euro News, 'There is no alarm, but prevention is crucial, especially in the preparation of home preserves."He added, 'Botulinum toxin is invisible and often does not alter the taste of food. The antidote is only effective in the early stages, when the toxin is still in the bloodstream."In recent weeks, the two outbreaks in Sardinia and Calabria have raised public concern. The Calabrian cluster involves 18 people who, in the first week of August in Diamante, in the province of Cosenza, consumed sandwiches with sausage and friarielli, a type of broccoli, bought from a street di Sarno, 52, and Tamara D'Acunto, 45, died after consuming the contaminated vegetables. Ten people are under investigation by the Paola public prosecutor's office, including the street vendor, three managers of companies producing the product, and six doctors from two health facilities in the Cosenza area who treated the victims before they died. They face charges of culpable homicide, culpable personal injury, and trading in harmful foodstuffs, Euro News to the Istituto Superiore di Sanita (Higher Institute of Health), analyses revealed that the poisoning was caused by more than one foodstuff, not just the friarielli used in the News reported that between 2001 and 2020, Italy recorded 452 laboratory-confirmed cases of botulism, with an average lethality rate of 3.1 per cent. About 91 per cent of cases are foodborne, often linked to home-canned 2023, Italy recorded the highest number of botulism cases in Europe, with 36 confirmed reports, followed by Germany (16), France (15), Romania, and Spain (14 each). Experts say the Italian canning tradition, especially in southern regions, contributes to this high preservation of food, if not done correctly, can promote the growth of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium responsible for botulism. Symptoms can appear from six hours up to seven days after consuming contaminated food and include double vision, dilated pupils, drooping eyelids, difficulty speaking and swallowing, dry mouth, and constipation. Severe cases can impair breathing, necessitating intubation, Euro News reported. (ANI)
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Health
- Irish Independent
Sardinian woman (62) dies after eating tainted guacamole at food festival
Valeria Sollai (62) died at the Monserrato Policlinico Hospital in Cagliari late on Monday after weeks on life support. Ms Sollai, a school cook, is believed to have eaten the same guacamole suspected of killing 38-year-old Roberta Pitzalis on August 8. A post-mortem confirmed Ms Pitzalis died from a combination of botulism poisoning and pneumonia. Several other people needed hospital treatment following the Fiesta Latina festival in Monserrato, a suburb of Cagliari, which ran from July 22-24, and two children remain in hospital. A post-mortem is to be held on the body of Ms Sollai, who had been showing signs of recovery before suffering a relapse and dying. There is growing alarm about food safety in Italy following the events at the festival, and a separate deadly botulism outbreak in the southern region of Calabria earlier this month. Distraught family members were struggling to come to terms with Ms Sollai's sudden death. 'It's absurd that someone goes out for a relaxing evening, goes to a party, eats a sandwich and ends up in the hospital,' Gianni Milia, her cousin, told the Sardinian newspaper L'Unione Sarda. 'She was with her sisters, they all ate the same sandwich, but only she fell ill. They were celebrating their older sister's discharge from the hospital. A party turned into a tragedy.' Tomaso Locci, the Monserrato mayor, said of Ms Sollai: 'She gave so much for our children. The news saddens us deeply. We will be present at the funeral as a community, as we were for Roberta Pitzalis, the other victim. This is a loss that affects us all.' A 14-year-old girl is still being treated at Monserrato Policlinico hospital, while an 11-year-old boy has been flown to Rome's Gemelli Policlinico in a serious condition. Ms Sollai is survived by her husband, Angelo Aru, and son Alessandro, a police officer in Campania. In a Facebook post at the end of July, Alessandro referred to an unnamed patient with 'worsening neurological conditions' and made an emotional appeal for people to take greater care about consuming street food. 'I strongly advise against eating any food sold at street stalls over the next few weeks,' he wrote. Authorities in Calabria have launched an investigation after two people died in a separate outbreak of botulism in the coastal town of Diamante. Luigi di Sarno, a 52-year-old artist, and Tamara D'Acunto (45) both fell ill shortly after eating panini filled with grilled sausages and turnip tops from a food truck. Another 14 people, including two teenagers, came down with food poisoning and had to be taken to hospital.
Daily Mirror
03-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
Truck driver who murdered his wife with hammer is jailed for life
An Italian truck driver has been handed a life sentence after a court heard he butally murdered his wife before impersonating her in messages to friends to pretend she was alive A truck driver who murdered his wife with a hammer before using her phone for months to pretend she was alive has been jailed for life. Francesca Deidda vanished on May 10, 2024, in Sardinia, Italy, with her friends growing increasingly suspicious in the wake of her shock disapperance. The 42-year-old's husband Igor Sollai, 43, was found to have killed his wife before stuffing her body into a duffel bag and dumping it under a bridge in a remote part of the Italian island, where it lay undiscovered for more than two months. A court in Cagliari heard how Sollai bashed her head with a hammer eight times while she was lying on a sofa at their home. The court was told the truck driver then put up that same sofa for sale online just days after and used Deidda's phone to impersonate her. On WhatsApp, he sent cheery messages to her friends and colleagues and emailed a resignation letter to her boss at the call centre where she worked. He also sold her Toyota Yaris in a bid to gather enough money to flee to his brother's home in the Netherlands, according to investigators. Deidda's body was finally found on July 18 curled up in the foetal position inside the large duffel bag hidden beneath dense brush near a disused bridge in the countryside outside San Priamo, with the help of police sniffer dogs. The remote location was only accessible via a dirt track, reinforcing suspicions that the killer had carefully chosen it to avoid discovery. Beside her body, searchers found personal items including a bathrobe, a dental guard, and the remains of a sweatshirt. Her brother, who had reported her missing weeks earlier, had told investigators Sollai never attempted to search for his missing wife. Although WhatsApp messages continued to arrive from her number, they noticed she had stopped replying with voice notes or answering calls, something highly unusual for her. Sollai initially told police they were on a break and that he thought she was staying with family. But under questioning, investigators soon discovered that he had been posing as Francesca, messaging friends and relatives. An autopsy later confirmed that Francesca had been bludgeoned to death with a hammer, though decomposition made the precise time of death harder to determine. Sollai eventually confessed to the murder in what prosecutors described as an attempt not to show remorse, but to get a more lenient sentence. He was found guilty of aggravated femicide and concealment of a corpse and sentenced to life in prison, with one year in solitary confinement. He was also ordered to pay €1.4 million (£1.2 million) as compensation to the victim's family. After the verdict, Deidda's brother Andrea said: "I'm satisfied. Of course, nothing will change because my sister is no longer here and won't come back. But in terms of justice, I'm very satisfied - I'm pleased with the work done and with the sentence." Sollai's defence said the jail sentence was "expected" but they will try to get a decrease in the sum he was ordered to pay.
