Investigation and analysis of an outbreak of foodborne disease caused by Salmonella enteritidis in a district of Chongqing

Abstract

ObjectiveTo provide the basis for dealing with similar incidents in the future， an outbreak of foodborne illness caused by the consumption of bread contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis was investigated.MethodsDescriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the clinical characteristics， epidemiological distribution and related risk factors of the cases. The etiological food was determined by retrospective cohort study. The biological samples， food remains and environmental samples of the cases and canteen employees were detected by laboratory testing. The causes of the outbreak were comprehensively analyzed based on the results of epidemiological investigation， laboratory tests and sanitary investigation.ResultsRetrospective cohort study showed that a batch of pre-packaged bread produced by a food factory in Chongqing on May 20， 2021 was the suspicious food. A total of 73 people ate the suspicious bread in this incident， and 55 of them got ill with a morbidity rate of 75.34% and a median incubation period of 15 h. At the same time， Salmonella enteritidis was detected in food remains， related environmental samples and anal swabs of patients.ConclusionThe incident was an outbreak of foodborne disease caused by bread contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis.

Keywords

• salmonella enteritidis
• foodborne disease
• outbreak