Outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis gastroenteritis: investigation by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
OBJECTIVE
Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to investigate an outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by Salmonella enteritidis. The outbreak occurred among university undergraduates who consumed contaminated food.


METHODS
Molecular typing was done by analyzing DNA band patterns of isolates of S. enteritidis after digestion of chromosomal DNA with infrequently-cutting restriction endonucleases XbaI, AvrII, and SpeI and separation of DNA fragments using PFGE.


RESULTS
Twenty-nine outbreak isolates of S. enteritidis had identical or highly similar PFGE patterns, whereas different PFGE patterns were observed among three epidemiologically unrelated isolates obtained during the same period.


CONCLUSIONS
The data obtained confirm the value of PFGE in epidemiologic investigations of outbreaks caused by S. enteritidis.
Thong
K L
KL
Centre for Foundation Studies in Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Puthucheary
S
S
Pang
T
T
D000328:Adult; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012477:Salmonella enteritidis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013045:Species Specificity
D004269:DNA, Bacterial