title: Salm-Net facilitates collaborative investigation of an outbreak of Salmonella tosamanga infection in Europe.
abstract: Twenty-eight cases of Salmonella tosamanga infection were identified in six western European countries during the first half of 1995. Salm-Net, a European system for collaborative surveillance of gastrointestinal infection, detected the outbreak and coordinated its investigation. There were 28 cases, 14 of each sex, with a broad age distribution. Interviews with cases to identify common food and other exposures failed to generate a working hypothesis. The initial cluster occurred in a period of eight weeks and, since only one further case occurred in June, the investigation was closed. This incident shows that Salm-Net is effective in identifying international outbreaks of human salmonellosis. Practical difficulties in the field investigation of the outbreak are discussed.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory for Foodborne Diseases Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, University of Berne.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hastings
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burnens
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rowe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012621:Seasons; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology