Severe infections caused by Salmonella Enteritidis PT8/7 linked to a private barbecue.
A cohort study on a barbecue-associated Salmonella outbreak was conducted to describe the burden of disease and to identify the outbreak vehicle. Dose-response relationships were tested with Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon rank sum tests (alpha = 0·05). S. Enteritidis isolates were cultured and phage-typed. Information was available for 11 out of 14 individuals attending the barbecue; all were healthy young adults (median age 27 years). The attack rate was 100%. Three cases were hospitalized and two developed acute pancreatitis. The exposure common to all cases was a vegetable pasta salad that had been stored unrefrigerated for 23 h. Consuming higher doses was associated with longer median symptom duration (7 days vs. 4 days, P = 0·11). S. Enteritidis was found in the stools of nine barbecue guests. Phage type 8/7 was identified in the stools of the salad preparer and one barbecue guest. This outbreak shows that S. Enteritidis can cause serious infection in young healthy individuals without well-known risk factors.
Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Federal State Public Health Services Rhineland-Palatinate, Landau, Germany.
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E
Mertens
District Health Office Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
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H
Kreher
National Reference Centre for Salmonella and other Bacterial Pathogens (NRC), Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode Branch, Germany.
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W
Rabsch
Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Federal State Public Health Services Rhineland-Palatinate, Landau, Germany.
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B
Bornhofen
Postgraduate Training for Applied Epidemiology (PAE, German Field Epidemiology Training Programme), Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
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K
Alpers
Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Federal State Public Health Services Rhineland-Palatinate, Landau, Germany.
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F
Burckhardt
D000328:Adult; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing / Q000379:methods; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012477:Salmonella enteritidis / Q000302:isolation & purification*