A Large Outbreak of Salmonellosis Associated with Sandwiches Contaminated with Multiple Bacterial Pathogens Purchased via an Online Shopping Service

Abstract

Food sold over the internet is an emerging business that also presents a concern with regard to food safety. A nationwide foodborne disease outbreak associated with sandwiches purchased from an online shop in July 2010 is reported. Consumers were telephone interviewed with a structured questionnaire and specimens were collected for etiological examination. A total of 886 consumers were successfully contacted and completed the questionnaires; 36.6% had become ill, with a median incubation period of 18 h (range, 6-66 h). The major symptoms included diarrhea (89.2%), abdominal pain (69.8%), fever (47.5%), headache (32.7%), and vomiting (17.3%). Microbiological laboratories isolated Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, Salmonella Virchow, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli from the contaminated sandwiches, Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Virchow from the patients, and Salmonella Enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus from food handlers. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis genotyping suggested a common origin of Salmonella bacteria recovered from the patients, food, and a food handler. Among the pathogens detected, the symptoms and incubation period indicated that Salmonella, likely of egg origin, was the probable causative agent of the outbreak. This outbreak illustrates the importance of meticulous hygiene practices during food preparation and temperature control during food shipment and the food safety challenges posed by online food-shopping services.

Prevalence of Multidrug Resistant Salmonellae with Increasing Frequency of <i>Salmonella enterica</i> Serovars Kentucky and Virchow among Hospitalized Diarrheal Cases in and around Delhi, India

“…The increasing prevalence of the S. Kentucky and S. Virchow serovars in Ethiopia was reported from 2012 to 2014 (24). Diarrheal outbreaks associated with S. Virchow rank among the top five serovars in several countries (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31). The World Health Organization's Global Foodborne Infections Network has also identified S. Virchow among the top 20 serovars in South-East Asia, Europe, and Oceania (32).…”

Investigation of a salmonellosis outbreak linked to French toast sandwich with the use of surveillance camera, Taiwan, 2018

“…In Taiwan, Salmonella species are the third most common bacteria, accounting for 19% (97/500) of bacteria-related foodborne outbreaks from 2013 to 2018, following Vibrio parahaemolyticus (29%; 147/500) and Staphylococcus aureus (28%; 141/500) [15]. In some of these salmonellosis outbreaks, investigations identified foods containing eggs as risk factors; in most, however, the vehicles and contamination routes remained unknown [16][17][18][19].…”

“…Pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns for Salmonella isolates collected from a restaurant associated with a salmonellosis outbreak in Taiwan during[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] April 2018. Note: These isolates included 13 from the decedent, two from a case-patient and one from an ill person who was positive for Salmonella species but not included in our case-control study because of incomplete interview responses.…”

Induction of Viable but Non-culturable (VBNC) State in <i>Salmonella</i> Cultured in M9 Minimal Medium Containing High Glucose

“…[6][7][8][9][10] In consideration of the strong infectivity of Salmonella, a better understanding of the characteristics of environmental Salmonella isolates is necessary for the control of spreading and contamination of foods by Salmonella as well as for the risk management for food safety in general.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Among Salmonella spp., Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) is one of the dominant species, and has sometimes caused mass food poisoning in many countries. [6][7][8][9][10] In consideration of the strong infectivity of Salmonella, a better understanding of the characteristics of environmental Salmonella isolates is necessary for the control of spreading and contamination of foods by Salmonella as well as for the risk management for food safety in general.…”