RESUMEN
An ongoing outbreak of salmonellosis due to Salmonella Thompson is affecting the Netherlands. Between 2 August and 19 October 2012, 866 cases were confirmed. Their median age was 44 years (range: 0-95 years), 63% were female and 36% were hospitalised. A matched case-control study suggested smoked salmon as the vehicle. Salmonella Thompson was confirmed in four of nine batches of smoked salmon from one producer. A recall of all concerned smoked salmon products was executed starting end of September.
Asunto(s)
Brotes de Enfermedades , Productos Pesqueros/microbiología , Salmón/microbiología , Intoxicación Alimentaria por Salmonella , Infecciones por Salmonella/epidemiología , Salmonella enterica/aislamiento & purificación , Adolescente , Adulto , Animales , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Niño , Preescolar , Femenino , Productos Pesqueros/análisis , Manipulación de Alimentos/métodos , Hospitalización/estadística & datos numéricos , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Países Bajos/epidemiología , Recall y Retirada del Producto/normas , Salmonella enterica/clasificaciónRESUMEN
UNLABELLED: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL OBSERVATION: On a warm day, during a barbecue that was attended by over 100 guests, a large number became rapidly ill with signs of acute gastroenteritis within a few hours after eating the prepared food. The characteristic symptoms were nausea, vomiting, syncope and in some cases in a later stage, diarrhoea. Sixty patients were transferred to hospitals. INVESTIGATION: Investigation revealed that the cause of this outbreak of gastroenteritis was an enterotoxin-A-producing strain of Staphylococcus aureus in a noodle dish. Both the food residues and the faeces from patients contained genotypically identical strains of S. aureus. They all had the gene for the gastroenteritis-inducing enterotoxin A from S. aureus. CONCLUSION: This case shows that the timely involvement of the different health authorities responsible for intervening in explosions of food poisoning is crucial for the clarification and treatment of such large-scale outbreaks. In the investigation of this outbreak, the municipal health authority co-operated with regional laboratories and the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority/Inspectorate for Health Protection and Veterinary Public Health.