Investigation of a Food Poisoning Outbreak in Fanyuan, Changhua County

T. J. Yu ； D. D. Jiang ； M. H. Lee ； M. L. Chang ； C. S. Chiu

《Epidemiology Bulletin》 14卷12期 (1998/12) Pp. 205-214

https://doi.org/10.6525/TEB.199812_14(12).0001

並列摘要

On October 5, 1997, to celebrate the completion of their new house, the Chen’s of Fanyuan Township, Changhua County, gave a party. That night, some guests developed symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain and were treated at the Erhlin Branch of the Changhua Christian Hospital. The purpose of epidemiological investigation is to identify food item(s) responsible for the food poisoning and the pathogenic agent(s) . the present investigation used a structured questionnaire to telephone-interview guests of the party for information concerning their demographic background, food items consumed, and physical conditions.

Of the 108 guests interviewed, 70met the criteria of a case, 35each males and females, and aged between 5and 73. symptoms were: diarrhea(100%), lower abdominal pain(80.0%), upper abdominal pain(78.6%), weakness(62.9%), headache(45.7%), vomiting(42.9%), fever(37.1%), chilliness(32.9%), nausea(28.6%), sore throat(1.4%), and rash(1.4%). The median incubation period was 16hours, ranging from 6hours to 56hours, with a mode of 16hours. Analysis of the 14courses of food served at the party showed that the odds ratio of having lobster salad was 6.5 times higher than not having the salad(95% confidence interval at 2.1-20.5); the odds ratio of not drinking was 6.5 times higher than drinking (95% confidence interval at 2.5-16.9). Vibrio parahaemolyticus of type K7 was isolated from the leftover of the lobster salad. Again, Vibrio prahaemolyticus (mainly of type K6) was isolated from 11 of the 19 rectal swabs of the patients. It was, therefore, decided that the food item responsible of the incident was the lobster salad, and the pathogenic agent was Vibrio parahemolyticus.