title: Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak associated with a contaminated food container in a school in Sichuan Province, China.
abstract: On 13 June 2013, a fever and diarrhoea outbreak occurred in a boarding school in Sichuan Province. We conducted a field investigation and compared food exposure of 81 case students and 104 control students (years 7 and 8) in order to identify the source of infection. There were 401 cases identified (399 students and two cooks). The attack rates were 23-46% in nursery, primary, and secondary schools, but 0% in the high school. Eighty-five percent of case students, consumed cowpea salad compared to 60% of control students at lunch on 12 June (odds ratio 3·1, 95% confidence interval 1·3-7·8). The cowpeas were stored at room temperature for 3 h in a bucket previously used to store raw ingredients. The bucket was cleaned using water without a disinfectant. There were two buckets of cowpea, one for the high-school students and another for the other students. This Salmonella outbreak was likely caused by the cowpea salad due to cross-contamination via a storage bucket.
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Chengdu,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Chengdu,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Chengdu,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Dongpu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Meishan,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Meishan City Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Meishan,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Chengdu,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Dongpu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Meishan,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Chinese Field Epidemiology Train Program,Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Beijing,People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D062409:Lunch; D008297:Male; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000502:physiology*; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students
keywords: Case-control study; Salmonella Typhimurium; food container; food poisoning