Dunster, Mather Dining Hall Tests Remain Inconclusive

Test results on food served in the Dunster and Mather House dining halls have not determined the cause of the illness that sent 16 people to the hospital last week and left many others sick.

Analyses of food samples taken from the dining halls did not show evidence that a bacteria or virus elicited the vomiting, diarrhea and cramps that students experienced, said Joseph Griffin, director of the University’s Environmental Health and Safety Services (EHS).

“There is not an apparent connection between the sample results and a food born illness,” Griffin said.

Yet Griffin also said that EHS was not able collect samples of all the different kinds of food served.

“We were able to obtain samples of 11 different foods, and that is not everything served that day,” Griffin said.

Tests of stool samples taken from dining hall employees are still pending. Harvard University Dining Services spokesperson Alexandra McNitt said in an e-mail message that he was not sure when the results arrive.

“We’re still waiting for the state to get back to us,” McNitt wrote. “We do not have any indication as to when we will hear from them. We keep hoping soon.”

Griffin said that it can be very difficult to find exactly what causes sudden outbreaks of illness. The cause of an outbreak of sickness among students who ate in the Cabot House dining hall last spring was never found.

“These things are always hard to catch after the fact,” Griffin said. “But we are making our best effort.”

—Staff writer Joseph P. Flood can be reached at flood@fas.harvard.edu.