title: An outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni infection among conference delegates.
abstract: Campylobacter infection is one of the most commonly reported foodborne diseases in Australia however, reported Campylobacter outbreaks are rare. This report describes such an outbreak among delegates attending a 10 day international academic meeting in South Australia during May 2001. A retrospective cohort study of the 29 delegates who attended the conference was conducted. A questionnaire was sent by email with a response rate of 93 per cent. Ten cases (onset of diarrhoea while attending the conference) were identified. Two were culture positive for Campylobacter jejuni. There was a significant association between the illness and eating a number of food items from two restaurants however, environmental investigation of the two venues did not identify a definitive source for the outbreak. This investigation demonstrates the usefulness of email in the distribution of questionnaires among specific cohorts.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013021:South Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires