A MAN says he is still seriously ill 16 months after eating a dodgy kebab.
John Inglesby, 76, was struck down with severe diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and sweats after munching the chicken shish with salad last year.
A stool sample confirmed he was one of more than 50 customers to contract shigella bacteria from Marmaris Kebab House in Abergavenny, Wales.
The intestinal infection is highly contagious and is spread when a person swallows a small amount of it from the stool of someone who is infected.
Someone may contract shigella if they eat food prepared by someone who has it and didn't wash their hands, for example.
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The outbreak happened in February 2023 when customers ate contaminated food from the takeaway.
More than 50 people fell ill with food poisoning symptoms; 11 were hospitalised.
Owners Sami Abdullah and Hassan Saritag pleaded guilty to placing unsafe food on the market, failing to put in place food safety procedures, and failing to register new owners at the business last month.
John visited the kebab shop on February 10, 2023, after he returned to work following the death of his wife.
He was prescribed a dose of antibiotics to help his recovery, but a year later he says he's still suffering from ongoing gastric complications.
John, who has now launched legal action, said: "When I went back to work, I was still struggling with grief and decided to visit my regular kebab shop.
"I'm not one to get stomach aches, so when I started to feel unwell, I knew something wasn't right.
"It worsened very quickly and before long I was in and out of the bathroom every 10 minutes.
"It got so bad that I had to see the doctor, and at that point I was told I had an infection."
At first he "didn't really piece it all together", but he claims he soon heard that other people had been ill after visiting the kebab shop.
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"To this day, I'm still not right," John added.
"It's truly awful how many people have been affected and something needs to be done to stop it happening again."
'LESSONS MUST BE LEARNED'
Sarita Sharma, a specialist public health lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing John, said the effects of the illness should not be downplayed.
"The first-hand account we've heard from John regarding his symptoms is deeply concerning, and to hear that more than 50 people were unwell after eating at the kebab house is shocking," she said.
"Shigella is a highly-contagious infection leading to gastrointestinal illness, the effects of which should never be downplayed as it can, in some cases such as John's, lead to long-term health issues.
"John's story is likely to be typical of others reported to Public Health Wales and, following the guilty pleas, it's vital that lessons are learned going forward to keep customers safe."
Abdullah and Saritag are set to be sentenced at Newport Magistrates Court in September.
This followed a case brought by Monmouthshire County Council and Public Health Wales, which outlined a link between the shop's food and instances of shigella.
