title: Epidemiological investigation of an outbreak of salmonellosis in Gyeongju, Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A salmonellosis outbreak occurred within a community of Gyeongju residents who ingested catered food from a wedding in June 2009. We aimed to epidemiologically investigate the probable vehicle of the infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective cohort study on 34 local residents who ingested the wedding food.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 34 residents, 31 (91.2%) reported symptoms of infection after eating the food. Among all of the wedding foods, pan-fried foods were highly associated with the diarrheal attack rate. On bacteriological examination, Salmonella species were detected in the pan-fried foods among the leftover foods and in 17 of the 31 stool specimens from the cases. There were five different types of pan-fried foods, but the onset of symptoms was independent of the ingredients used. We found that the pan-fried food was prepared at a food store in Seoul and that eggs were a common ingredient.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The major cause of the salmonellosis in this population was presumed to be the pan-fried food prepared with contaminated eggs. These food items might have been partially undercooked because of their irregular shape, which allowed the Salmonella species to survive and multiply before ingestion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok-Ju
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Sul
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004531:Eggs / Q000382:microbiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005638:Fruit / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Egg; Epidemiologic studies; Salmonella infections