Restaurant-associated outbreak of giardiasis.
An outbreak of giardiasis occurred among staff of a job training center after a meeting at a restaurant. Twenty-seven (75%) of 36 attendees became ill compared with 1 (3%) of 31 staff members not attending (relative risk, 23.3; 95% confidence interval, 3.4-161.4). Because most attendees ate all items on a fixed menu, no individual food item could be conclusively associated with illness. Circumstantial evidence suggests, however, that ice contaminated by a food handler may have been the vehicle. The restaurant had multiple sanitary violations, and 2 employees, 1 with asymptomatic giardiasis and the other with a Giardia-infected, diapered child, served ice to the attendees. This outbreak demonstrates the potential for restaurant-based giardiasis outbreaks.
Quick
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Division of Field Epidemiology, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
Paugh
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Addiss
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Kobayashi
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Baron
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005506:Food Contamination; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D012147:Restaurants; D014881:Water Supply