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Objective@#To analyze the etiological characteristics of an outbreak of Campylobacter foodborne disease in a middle school in Suzhou City, so as to provide insights into the identification of pathogenic factors of Campylobacter foodborne disease outbreaks.@*Methods@#Eighteen anal swabs from patients, 10 anal swabs from canteen workers, 43 food samples, 2 drinking water samples, 2 food original material samples and 31 environmental samples were collected, and the pathogens were rapidly screened using the gastrointestinal infection detection strip. The pathogens were isolated and cultured using the double-pore filtration membrane method, and cluster analysis of bacterial isolates was performed using pulsed field gel electrophoresis ( PFGE ). In addition, the susceptibility of Campylobacter isolates to antibiotics was tested using the Campylobacter agar dilution method.@*Results@#A total of 63 cases with Campylobacter infections were reported, and the major clinical symptoms included diarrhea ( 51 cases, 80.95% ) and fever ( 39 cases, 61.90% ), while no inpatients or deaths were found. Twelve Campylobacter-positive samples were detected, including 11 anal swabs sampled from patients and one food original material sample. Among the 11 positive anal swabs, there were 10 samples positive for Campylobacter jejuni and one sample positive for C. coli, and of the one positive food original material, C. coli was identified. PFGE analysis showed that 10 C. jejuni isolates of had 100.0% homology, and these 10 isolates were 100.0% resistant to naphthyridic acid, ciprofloxacin and tetracycline, appearing multidrug resistance.@*Conclusions@#This is an outbreak of foodborne disease caused by C. jejuni infections. Gastrointestinal infection detection strips, double-pore filtration membrane and PFGE typing are rapid and accurate to identify pathogenic factors.
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In April, 2013, a Suzhou Hospital reported a nitrite intoxication patient in coma as well as 2 family members with the similar symptom 5 days ahead. We investigated the event to identify the cause, source and possible pollution ways of the contamination. We defined case as any person living in YSHY community who has cyanosis and with at least one of the following symptoms: dizziness, headache, fatigue, tachycardia, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhea during April 15 to April 25, 2013. We searched for case by interviewing community residents and reviewing clinics' medical records; information was then retrospectively collected on the patient's food history, cooking procedures and food sources. We identified 3 nitrite intoxication cases, 1 male and 2 female from a family. The interval time between dinner and onset was < 1 hour. Retrospective survey showed 'sugar stir and mix asparagus' on April 17 and 'scrambled asparagus' on April 21 were suspected foods. Both suspected dishes had 'sugar' added, sourced from a clean-up of a neighboring rental house. Nitrite was detected in a vomitus sample, the 'sugar' and two leftover food samples. This family clustered nitrite intoxication was induced by using unidentified nitrite as sugar to cook dishes. We recommend sodium nitrite should be dyed with bright colors to avoid mistaking it for plain salt or sugar, health departments strengthen food hygiene propaganda to improve people's recognition of food safety, and to alert them the dangerous of eating unidentified or unknown source food