This study was designed to define the epidemiology of a food-borne outbreak caused by Salmonella enteritidis that affected only one squadron of a military battalion located in the vicinity of the city of Edirne in Turkey. The outbreak was analyzed by a standard surveillance form of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The relationship between the eaten foods and cases was analyzed by Fisher's exact chi-square test, and odds ratios were calculated by a case-control study. The outbreak affected 60 of 168 soldiers in the squadron, 16 of whom were hospitalized. S.enteritidis was cultured in stools from 13 of the hospitalized soldiers and from 3 soldiers who had prepared the food. All strains were completely susceptible to antibiotics; their plasmid profiles were also identical. The highest attack rate detected was 55.7% in an omelet eaten 24 hours before (p < 0.001). Furthermore, it was the riskiest food according to the case-control study (OR=7.88; 95% CI=3.68-16.89). The food samples were unobtainable because they had been discarded. All of the hospitalized cases recovered, and none of the control cultures of stools yielded the pathogen after three weeks. In conclusion, although our results didn't indicate the exact source of the outbreak microbiologically, the omelet was considered to be the source based on the epidemiological proofs.
*Disease Outbreaks ; Eggs/microbiology ; Human ; Salmonella Food Poisoning/*epidemiology/etiology ; Salmonella enteritidis/*isolation & purification ; Turkey/epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: 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.
Cohort Studies ; *Disease Outbreaks ; Eggs/microbiology ; Feces/microbiology ; *Food Microbiology ; Fruit/microbiology ; Humans ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Salmonella/*isolation & purification ; Salmonella Food Poisoning/*epidemiology ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo conduct an etiological molecular epidemiological survey and laboratory test on a foodborne disease epidemic outbreak to make clear of the cause and implement effective prevention and control on it.

METHODSOn May 12th 2012, 135 kindergarten children were sent to Xuzhou City People's Hospital and Children's Hospital with gastrointestinal infection disease. A total of 34 anus swab samples and 4 vomit samples were collected from the patients. Real-time PCR rapid detection, strains separation and cultivation, phage lysis experiments, ATB automated identification system were used to make etiological detection and identification. The genomic DNA of salmonella enteritidis were typed with the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), cluster analysis were carried out together with the patterns of local Salmonella infections.

RESULTSChildren in 20 classes were suffered from the gastrointestinal infection among the 21 classes. There were no significant aggregation of class distribution. Among the 135 patients, 76 were boys (56.3%) and 59 were girls (43.7%). The main symptoms were fever (above 38°C), diarrhea and bellyache. Through real-time PCR detection and strains separation, 19 salmonella enteritidis were isolated from 34 anus swab samples of suspected cases and the detection rate was 56%. There were no strains detected from vomit samples. All of the 19 salmonella enteritidis showed the same serological subtype, biochemical reaction, drug sensitivity and phage lysis pattern. The salmonella enteritidis had the identical PFGE pattern (100% similarity), and were different from the pattern of local sporadic infection cases.

CONCLUSIONIt was confirmed that this was an epidemic outbreak of foodborne disease caused by homologous salmonella enteritidis by epidemiological survey, clinical information, lab etiological test and molecular typing.

Bacteriophage Typing ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Salmonella Food Poisoning ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Salmonella enteritidis ; classification ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo investigate the application of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in food-borne outbreak.

METHODSPathogens were isolated and further characteristics identified by traditional methods. The strains isolated were carried out with molecular typing with using PFGE. PFGE was performed by Laboratory Directions for molecular subtyping of Salmonella by PFGE (CDC, USA) and the results of PFGE were analyzed by BioNumerics soft.

RESULTSTotally 14 Salmonella serotype Muenchen strains were isolated from 19 patients, 3 of 9 suspicious foods were positive for S. muenchen and 7 strains were isolated from 18 cooks. The biochemistry characterization and antimicrobial susceptibility of all the strains isolated were the same. 23 S. muenchen isolates were all shown indistinguishable by PFGE.

CONCLUSIONPFGE should play a key role in identifying the outbreak-associated isolates and distinguishing them from unrelated sporadic isolates. It might also demonstrate that the genetic fingerprints of serotype Muenchen isolates derived from patients were indistinguishable from those derived from drinks. PFGE might provide precise information on bacterial food-borne pathogens, promptly identify the source of infection, and effectively prevent from spreading. It should be one of the early warning method on controlling outbreak of the food-borne disease.

China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; methods ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Salmonella Food Poisoning ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Salmonella enterica ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Serotyping

A total of 22 Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) strains isolated from human and chicken were subjected to DNA fingerprinting by repetitive sequence PCR using ERIC and BOX primers, antibiotic resistance and plasmid patterns. Both ERIC and BOX PCR amplification data revealed a highly genetic homogeneity between isolates from human and chicken except one isolate, which originated from chicken and showed a different DNA band pattern from others. Eleven of 22 S. Enteritidis isolates (50%) were resistant to more than one antibiotics and characterized by 5 resistance patterns. The most common pattern was penicillin resistant (63.6%). Only one isolate from chicken showed a multiple drug resistance patterns to 4 antibiotics. All 22 S. Enteritidis isolates harbored more than two plasmids with eight different plasmid profiles including two to six plasmids with approximate molecular size ranging from 1.9 to 21 kb. A band of 15 kb size was detected in all isolates tested, however, the band sizes smaller than 15 kb were found only in isolates from chicken.
Animals ; *Chickens ; China/epidemiology ; DNA Fingerprinting/veterinary ; DNA, Bacterial/chemistry/genetics ; Disease Outbreaks/*veterinary ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests/veterinary ; Microsatellite Repeats/genetics ; Plasmids/chemistry/genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary ; Poultry Diseases/epidemiology/*microbiology ; Salmonella Food Poisoning/epidemiology/*microbiology ; Salmonella enteritidis/drug effects/*genetics/isolation&purification