In April 2007, a 41-year-old man developed sudden-onset lower abdominal pain and rigors. Fevers, headache, diarrhoea, vomiting and dizziness developed and continued throughout the day. In the evening, he presented to the emergency department of a suburban non-teaching hospital in Melbourne. He had no pre-existing illness and had worked for 5 months as a pet-food processor, handling carcasses of sheep, cattle and pigs.