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A multi-state outbreak of Salmonella serotype Thompson infection from commercially distributed bread contaminated by an ill food handler

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2005

A. C. KIMURA
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Branch, California Department of Health Services, Gardena, CA, USA
M. S. PALUMBO
Affiliation:
Food and Drug Branch, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, CA, USA
H. MEYERS
Affiliation:
Epidemiology and Assessment, Orange County Health Care Agency, Santa Ana, CA, USA
S. ABBOTT
Affiliation:
Microbial Diseases Laboratory, California Department of Health Services, Richmond, CA, USA
R. RODRIGUEZ
Affiliation:
Acute Communicable Disease Control, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, CA, USA
S. B. WERNER
Affiliation:
Infectious Diseases Branch, California Department of Health Services, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Abstract

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Foodborne transmission is estimated to account for 95% of non-typhoidal Salmonella infections reported in the United States; however, outbreaks of salmonellosis are rarely traced to food handlers. In August 2000, an increase in Salmonella serotype Thompson infection was noted in Southern California; most of the cases reported eating at a restaurant chain (Chain A) before illness onset. A case-control study implicated the consumption of burgers at Chain A restaurants. The earliest onset of illness was in a burger bun packer at Bakery B who had not eaten at Chain A but had worked while ill. Bakery B supplied burger buns to some Chain A restaurants in Southern California and Arizona. This outbreak is notable for implicating a food handler as the source of food contamination and for involving bread, a very unusual outbreak vehicle for Salmonella. Inadequate food-handler training as well as delayed reporting to the health department contributed to this outbreak.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press