An outbreak of food intoxication involving over 265 cases in western United States occurred in October 1991. Staphylococcus intermedius was implicated as the aetiologic agent. Representative outbreak isolates (five clinical and ten from foods) produced type A enterotoxin. DNA fragments generated by four restriction endonucleases and analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) provided definitive evidence that all isolates from nine different counties in California and Nevada were derived from a single strain. The PFGE pattern of these outbreak isolates was distinct from those of a heterogeneous collection of seven S. intermedius strains of veterinary origin and five unrelated S. aureus laboratory strains. The data show a significant PFGE pattern heterogeneity not only among members of different Staphylococcus species but also within members of the same species and even the same enterotoxin type. The results indicate that PFGE is a valuable strain-specific discriminator for the epidemiological characterization of S. intermedius. To our knowledge, this represents the first documented foodborne outbreak caused by S. intermedius. These findings suggest that the presence of S. intermedius and other species such as S. hyicus in food should be reason for concern.

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The distribution of bdellovibrios was investigated over a wide geographical area of the Chesapeake Bay including some tributaries and subestuaries. Bdellovibrios were recovered from five aquatic habitats; water, sediment, oyster shell surface biofilm, zooplankton, and plants over a wide range of temperature and salinity measurements. Consistently, the greatest number of the predators was recovered from samples of biofilm irrespective of temperature and salinity. A decrease in the numbers and frequency of predators recovered from all habitats was observed at temperatures below 10°C. Only the shell surface biofilm samples yielded bdellovibrios 100% of the time. The organisms were recovered from 79% of water samples and 44% of sediment samples. The results reveal that bdellovibrios are surface-associated organisms and that this association appears to provide some protection for the predators at low temperatures.

The adherence and viability of Escherichia coli inoculated onto the surfaces of plastic cutting boards and new and used wood cutting boards were evaluated. Most of the inoculum was recovered from all surfaces after resident drying times of 5 min and from plastic surfaces at 24 h. When the exposure time was extended to 2 h, > 90% of the cells placed on new and used dry wood surfaces were not recovered after vigorous rinsing. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the bacteria resided within the structural xylem fibers and vegetative elements of the wood. After resident drying times of up to 2 h, almost 75% of the adherent bacteria on the wood surfaces were viable, as defined by a nalidixic acid direct viable count procedure. Microcosm studies showed no intrinsic growth‐supporting or toxic properties of the cutting board materials. Bacteria that adhered to plastic surfaces were more easily removed by low‐temperature washing than were cells that adhered to wood surfaces. These studies demonstrated that bacteria adhering to wood surfaces resided within the structural and vegetative elements of the wood's xylem tissues and were viable; wood was more retentive than plastic; penetration of the inoculum liquid promoted cell adherence to the wood matrix; and conditioning of wood with water before inoculation interfered with bacterial adherence.