Bavaroise and an epidemic of Salmonella enteritidis

In the literature an association is made between the increasing prevalence of Salmonella enteritidis in poultry products and in the isolates of patients with gastroenteritis, without sufficient evidence of a causal relationship between the increasing prevalences. A microbiological and epidemiological analysis of a food poisoning incident among 239 visitors of a restaurant by way of food specific attack rates and food specific infection rates revealed an epidemic of 70 cases of S. enteritidis enteritis. The analysis supports the causal relationship with the consumption of an infected, unhygienically prepared egg product, in this case bavaroise.