Epidemiological study of the claimed zinc phosphide intoxication in Kom Ombo district April 1996

INTRODUCTION: In April 1996, in Aswan Governorate, Egypt, an outbreak of vomiting without diarrhea, abdominal and leg pain was reported. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted to determine the cause of the outbreak. 25 cases who had vomiting without diarrhea, abdominal and leg pain. Controls were randomly chosen from adjacent houses to cases and another village. RESULTS: No occupational exposure was associated with the disease, 84% of cases lived in households where chemical rodenticide had been used for rat infestations compared to 22% of controls. Laboratory analysis and field investigation identified zinc phosphide intoxication as the probable cause of this outbreak.