[Description of a staphylococcal alimentary poisoning outbreak in Las Rosas, Santa Fe Province, Argentina]. / Descripción de un brote de intoxicación alimentaria estafilocócica ocurrido en Las Rosas, Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina.

On February 2008, a suspected foodborne outbreak was reported in Las Rosas (Santa Fe Province, Argentina). The formal procedures indicated that an undetermined number of individuals had experienced food poisoning following consumption of vegetable cannelloni bought at a local shop. The manufacturer establishment was audited. Samples from the suspected food, as well as environmental samples and swabs from food handlers were obtained and involved subjects were interviewed. Remnants of ingested food were also obtained. Routine microbiological procedures of the foodborne outbreak revealed the presence of coagulase positive S. aureus subspecies aureus in samples from ingested and raw food, and from manipulators. Indicator microorganisms did not show significant levels and no other foodborne pathogen was isolated. Presence of staphylococcal enterotoxin-producing genes was subsequently investigated, and a positive result for enterotoxin B was shown in S. aureus strains isolated from a food handler as well as from food linked to the outbreak Moreover, these isolates showed 100% similarity by SmaI-PFGE. Timely notification together with coordinated sanitary measures and the availability of appropriate laboratory tools allowed to interrupt the chain of disease transmission by identifying risk and protective factors.

[Multiplex PCR strategy for the simultaneous identification of Staphylococcus aureus and detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins in isolates from food poisoning outbreaks]. / Estrategia de PCR múltiple para la caracterización molecular simultánea de Staphylococcus aureus y enterotoxinas estafilocócicas en aislamientos de brotes de origen alimentario.

INTRODUCTION: Staphylococcal food poisoning is the most frequent type of food poisoning around the world. Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins cause significant loss of water in the intestinal lumen, followed by vomiting and diarrhea. OBJECTIVE: To report a fast, reliable and inexpensive strategy based on multiplex PCR for the simultaneous identification of S. aureus and detection of five classical S. aureus enterotoxin genes ( sea, seb, sec, sed, see ) in Staphylococcus spp. strains isolated from food poisoning outbreaks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed isolates from 12 food poisoning outbreaks occurred in Santa Fe province (Argentina). Isolation and phenotypic characterization were carried out by standard procedures. Genotypic analysis was performed by multiplex PCR, using primers for nuc , sea-see and 16S rRNA genes simultaneously. RESULTS: Of all the strains tested, 58% were found to carry toxigenic genes. Sea and seb toxins were found at the same percentage (29%) while sec, sed and see genes were found in a lower and identical proportion (14%). We did not find more than one different type of S. aureus enterotoxin in the isolates analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: The multiplex PCR strategy designed in this work has enabled us to identify strains of S. aureus and detect -at the same time- their enterotoxigenic ability. At present, our efforts are devoted to the detection of genes encoding enterotoxins other than the classical ones, in order to know their impact on staphylococcal food poisoning, as well as to investigate their relevance to our country's public health.