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An outbreak of Salmonella infections that occurred in several states during 1989 may have been caused by low level contamination of cheese during manufacturing and processing. During an outbreak of Salmonella infections that occurred in Minnesota between Apr and Sep 1989, 136 infections were caused by Salmonella javiana and 11 were caused by Salmonella oranienburg. Fifteen outbreak-associated cases of Salmonella occurred in Wisconsin, one occurred in Michigan and one occurred in New York. Patients with outbreak-associated infections were more likely than individuals who did not develop an infection to have eaten mozzarella cheese manufactured at one manufacturing plant. Patients were also more likely than uninfected individuals to have eaten cheese shredded at specific cheese processing plants.

An international outbreak of shigellosis that occurred during 1988 may have been caused by contamination of cold food served by a Minnesota-based airline. Shigellosis is a form of dysentery, or diarrhea, caused by different species of the bacterium Shigella. A study examined the incidence of shigellosis among 65 members and staff of a football team and among 240 other passengers who flew on a Minnesota-based airline between Sept and Oct 1988. Among the 65 football players and staff, 21 (32%) developed shigellosis after eating cold sandwiches prepared on a flight taken during Oct 1988. Thirty other passengers (4%), four flight attendants and two crew members also developed shigellosis after eating cold food prepared in the airplane kitchen. Shigella sonnei was grown from stool specimens taken from nine team members, 11 other passengers and three flight attendants.

Approximately 2,100 scientists and public health officials from the United States and 64 other countries gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, February 29-March 3, 2004, for the fourth biennial International Conference on [...]

Examines the outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica O:8 infections associated with pasteurized milk in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire in October, 1995. Features of Y. enterocolitica; Epidemiology of Y. enterocolitica O:8 infections; Implications for the regulation of milk products.

Since October 1992, > 150,000 cases of cholera have been reported from India and Bangladesh; the great majority of Vibrio cholerae isolates belong to the newly established serogroup O139. To better understand the interaction of genetic and epidemiologic factors responsible for their sudden appearance and rapid spread, representative toxigenic V. cholerae O139 isolates were molecularly characterized and compared with a set of toxigenic V. cholerae O1 and non-O1/non-O139 strains. DNA sequences of the cholera toxin B subunit gene and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis markers of V. cholerae O139 strains were identical to those of V. cholerae O1 isolates of the seventh pandemic. Two distinct ribotypes and four pulsed-field gel electrophoretic patterns were observed for O139 strains. V. cholerae O139 strains were very similar to V. cholerae O1 strains of the seventh pandemic but clearly different from the toxigenic V. cholerae strains of serogroups other than O1 and O139. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An outbreak of gastrointestinal illness with clinical and epidemiologic features of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) occurred among patrons of a restaurant during April 1991. Illnesses among several groups of patrons were characterized by diarrhea (100%) and cramps (79%–88%) lasting a median of 3–5 days. Median incubation periods ranged from 50 to 56 h. A nonmotile strain of E. coli (E. coli O39), which was negative for heat-labile (LT) and heatstable (STa, STb) ETEC toxins, was isolated only from ill patrons. This organism produced enteroaggregative E. coli heat-stable enterotoxin 1 and contained the enteropathogenic E. coli gene locus for enterocyte effacement; it did not display mannose-resistant adherence, but produced attaching and effacing lesions in the absence of mannose on cultured HEp-2 cells. E. coli that are not part of highly characterized but narrowly defined groups may be important causes of foodborne illness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]