title: Outbreak of Salmonella infantis gastroenteritis among people who had eaten at a hash house in southern Italy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis in people who had eaten at a hash house in southern Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A clinical case of gastroenteritis was defined as a person who had eaten at the hash house from 29 August to 4 September 2011 and who experienced defined gastrointestinal symptoms within 72 hours, or a person with a laboratory-confirmed salmonella infection without symptoms. A convenience sample was enrolled as the control group. Environmental and human samples were collected, and Salmonella infantis was identified by polymerase chain reaction. Univariate analysis was performed for each food type, and multivariate analysis was performed for each food type and demographic variable (gender, age).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three cases of gastroenteritis were notified between 1 and 4 September 2011, two of which were admitted to the local hospital. Multivariate analysis showed that porchetta [odds ratio (OR) 22.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.2-152.6, z = 3.13, P = 0.002] and roasted meat (OR 14.4, 95% CI 1.7-122.0, z = 2.45, P = 0.014) were associated with gastrointestinal symptoms. Environmental and human isolates exhibited the same sequence type (ST 32).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This experience highlighted that, in the control of a foodborne outbreak, integrated epidemiological and laboratory surveillance enables rapid identification of the source of infection, thus reducing the risk of an epidemic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chironna
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Bari, Italy. Electronic address: silvio.tafuri@uniba.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tafuri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gallone
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sallustio
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prato
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Germinario
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D018563:Disease Notification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005511:Food Handling / Q000592:standards; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012147:Restaurants; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Case–control study; Food safety; Molecular characterization; Outbreak; Salmonella infantis