1. Investigation of a salmonellosis outbreak linked to French toast sandwich with the use of surveillance camera, Taiwan, 2018
- Author
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Tsuey-Fong Lee, Chien-Shun Chiou, Yu-Neng Chueh, Chiao-Wen Lin, Chia-Ping Su, Ying-Shu Liao, Jui-Chen Chang, Chao-Jung Lee, and Tsai-Hsia Du
- Subjects
Salmonella ,Salmonellosis ,Restaurants ,Genotype ,Epidemiology ,Salmonella enteritidis ,Eggs ,Taiwan ,Video Recording ,medicine.disease_cause ,Disease Outbreaks ,Environmental health ,Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis ,medicine ,Odds Ratio ,Humans ,Surveillance camera ,Foodborne outbreak ,Original Paper ,Whole-genome sequencing ,Transmission (medicine) ,Outbreak ,Case-control study ,Infectious Diseases ,Geography ,Salmonella Infections ,Food Microbiology ,Food preparation - Abstract
Salmonellais a leading cause of foodborne outbreaks in Taiwan. On 27 April 2018, a salmonellosis outbreak among customers of a restaurant was reported to the Taiwan CDC. We investigated the outbreak to identify infection sources and prevent further transmission. We interviewed ill customers and their dining companions. We conducted a case-control study to identify foods associated with the illness. Case-patients were those who had diarrhoea within 72 h after eating at the restaurant during 16–27 April 2018. Specimens, food samples and environmental samples were collected and tested for enteric pathogens.Salmonellaisolates were analysed with pulse-field gel electrophoresis and whole-genome sequencing. We inspected the restaurant sanitation and reviewed kitchen surveillance camera recordings. We identified 47 case-patients, including one decedent. Compared with 44 controls, case-patients were more likely to have had a French toast sandwich (OR: 102.4; 95% CI: 18.7–952.3).SalmonellaEnteritidis isolates from 16 case-patients shared an indistinguishable genotype. Camera recordings revealed eggshell contamination, long holding time at room temperature and use of leftovers during implicated food preparation. Recommendations for restaurant egg-containing food preparation are to use pasteurised egg products and ensure a high enough cooking temperature and long enough cooking time to preventSalmonellacontamination.
- Published
- 2020