title: An Outbreak of Food Poisoning in a Military Establishment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An outbreak of food poisoning in a military establishment mess was investigated and remedial measures suggested.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 391 persons had consumed meals in the mess on the day of the outbreak. A detailed food history was taken from available persons and the attack rates of each specific food items were calculated with the relative risks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 391 persons who had consumed meals at the mess, 123 were affected giving an overall attack rate of 31.5%. Majority of the cases had loose motions, fever, pain abdomen and vomiting. The maximum attack rate (65.1%) was for those who had eaten chicken preparation. The relative risk was also highest for those who had eaten chicken at lunch on the day of the outbreak (RR - 33.21, 95% CI 8.39 to 131.53). The mean incubation period was 19.73 hours (range 6 - 57 hours). The median incubation period was 18 hours. Bacteriological confirmation was not successful.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The chicken dish was the epidemiologically incriminating food item responsible for the outbreak. Clinical and epidemiological features were suggestive of salmonella food poisoning. However, same could not be confirmed bacteriologically.
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Padm Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Jadhav
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor (PSM), Padm Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.affiliation: Officer in Charge, Station Health Organisation (Navy), Colaba, Mumbai.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Community Medicine, AFMC Pune.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Chawla
keywords: Food poisoning; Military establishment