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J Infect Dis. 2001 Jul 15;184(2):242-4.
An outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni infections associated with food handler contamination: the use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
Olsen SJ,
Hansen GR,
Bartlett L,
Fitzgerald C,
Sonder A,
Manjrekar R,
Riggs T,
Kim J,
Flahart R,
Pezzino G,
Swerdlow DL.
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. sco2@cdc.gov
In 1998, an outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni infections occurred in Kansas among persons attending a school luncheon; community cases were also reported. In a cohort study of luncheon attendees, 27 (17%) of 161 persons reported illness. Consuming gravy (relative risk [RR], 4.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-11.7) or pineapple (RR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.0-5.7) was associated with illness. Both foods were prepared in a kitchen that served 6 other schools where no illness was reported. A cafeteria worker at the luncheon had a diarrheal illness and was the likely source of the outbreak. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of the isolates from the food handler and those of 8 lunch attendees were indistinguishable. Isolates from 4 community patients differed. This was the first use of PFGE in a Campylobacter outbreak in the United States; its use was critical in determining that community cases were not linked.
PMID: 11078485 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]