Outbreak of Staphylococcal Food Poisoning from a Military Unit Lunch Party — United States, July 2012

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Teague, Nathan S. ; Grigg, Stephanie S. ; Peterson, Jasmine C. ; Gómez, Gerardo A. ; Talkington, Deborah F.
• Description:
  On July 30, 2012, the emergency department at a military hospital was visited by 13 persons seeking care for gastrointestinal illness with onset 2-3 hours after a work lunch party. The hospital responded by opening up temporary evaluation and treatment capacity in primary-care clinics and a progressive-care unit and by diverting one patient to a local civilian hospital. An immediate outbreak investigation was conducted by local military public health personnel with assistance from CDC. Initial epidemiologic analysis implicated "perlo" (a chicken, sausage, and rice dish) and bacterial intoxication as the outbreak mechanism. This enabled public health personnel to 1) recommend no further consumption of perlo and 2) reassure appropriate authorities that no additional ill persons likely would be seeking care and advise that nothing more than supportive care of ill persons likely would be required. After interviewing party attendees, investigators found nine additional persons who met their case definition. Subsequent CDC laboratory analysis of a sample of perlo detected staphylococcal enterotoxin A, supporting the epidemiologic findings. Improper food handling and preparation measures were identified and addressed by the appropriate authorities, who provided additional detailed education on food preparation safety for the persons who prepared the meal.
• Subjects:
  Disease Outbreaks Enterotoxins Food Handling Food Microbiology Gastrointestinal Diseases Humans Lunch Meat Military Medicine Staphylococcal Food Poisoning
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 2013; 62(50):1026-1028.
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  24352066
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4584578
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  3 pdf pages
• Volume:
  62
• Issue:
  50
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bdf57be31dbe9abb5d66e0528c9d8d2fc015a060e3c7d48283fb2b073005342b3ae87ad0b5106f0e9503782c72615ed09e6fb8b241f84357aa27b8a383904919
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/54787/cdc_54787_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 184.40 KB ]