Investigation of a foodborne disease outbreak caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus during a wedding banquet

Abstract

ObjectiveTo provide a basis for preventing and controlling such incidents， an investigation of a foodborne disease outbreak caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus during a wedding banquet was conducted to identify pathogenic food，the pathogenic factors and the source of contamination.MethodsAn epidemiological investigation， on-site food hygiene investigation， and laboratory testing were used to analyze the cause of this event and take corresponding prevention and control measures.ResultsTwenty suspected cases were found. The main clinical manifestations were diarrhea， abdominal pain， fever and vomiting. The shortest incubation period was 4 h， the longest incubation period was 35.5 h， and the average incubation period was 16 h. Vibrio parahaemolyticus was detected in the samples of anal swab from 3 cases. Molecular typing analysis of the positive strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus by pulsed field gel electrophoresis indicated that they were from the same source of infection. The case-control analysis found that the crispy salted hoof was the suspected poisoning food. Hygienic investigation showed that the crispy salted hoof after cooking shared the cutting board for rough processing raw seafood when they were cut into small pieces.ConclusionThis incident is a foodborne disease outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus caused by raw and cooked cooking utensils. It is suggested that catering units should strengthen food hygiene education， and label the raw and cooked tools to prevent cross contamination， and actively implement other food safety measures.

Keywords

• vibrio parahaemolyticus
• foodborne disease
• outbreak
• epidemiological investigation