Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Mahon, Barbara E.
• Pönkä, Antti
• Hall, William N.
• Komatsu, Kenneth
• Dietrich, Stephen E.
• Siitonen, Anja
• Cage, Gary
• Hayes, Peggy S.
• Lambert-Fair, Mary Ann
• Bean, Nancy H.
• Griffin, Patricia M.
• Slutsker, Laurence

Titel

An International Outbreak of Salmonella Infections Caused by Alfalfa Sprouts Grown from Contaminated Seeds

Ist Teil von

• The Journal of infectious diseases, 1997-04, Vol.175 (4), p.876-882

Ort / Verlag

Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press

Erscheinungsjahr

1997

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Oxford Journals 2020 Medicine

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• An outbreak of Salmonella serotype stanley infections occurred in the United States and Finland in 1995. The outbreak was investigated through case-control studies in Arizona, Michigan, and Finland; by isolate subtyping; and by tracing and culturing of the implicated food. Alfalfa sprout consumption was the only exposure associated with S. stanley infections in Arizona (matched odds ratio [MOR] = 11.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4–513), Michigan (MOR = 5.5; CI, 1.6–23), and Finland (MOR undefined; CI, 4.9-∞). US and Finnish patient isolates were a unique outbreak strain distinct from S. stanley isolates not linked to the outbreak. Alfalfa sprouts eaten by patients in 6 US states and Finland were traced to seed shipped by a Dutch shipper. Thus, it was concluded that alfalfa sprouts grown from contaminated seed caused an international outbreak of ⩾242 S. stanley infections in ⩾17 US states and Finland. This outbreak illustrates a new mechanism through which contamination of fresh produce can cause large, widely dispersed outbreaks.