International Specialty Supply

Supplying Sprout Companies Throughout the World

ISS

820 East 20th Street

Cookeville, TN 38501 USA

931 526 1106

Bob@sproutnet.com

中文版

En español

Outbreak of S. Enteritidis PT4B Infection in the Netherlands
December 20, 2000
Eurosurveillance Weekly
 

A cluster of 12 cases of infection with Salmonella enteritidis phage type (PT) 4b was identified in the Netherlands in the last week of November 2000 from data from the national reference laboratory system that includes 62% of all laboratory diagnoses of salmonellosis in the country.

Since Netherlands adopted the English phage typing system in 1997 no cases of this phage type had been reported, and information from participants in the Enter-net network showed that it was rare in most of Europe. One week before these cases were detected, S. enteritidis PT4b was reported through the national reference laboratory system, coming from a private quality control analysis of one batch of bean sprouts.

By 15 December the number of cases had risen to 25, and a second report of contaminated bean sprouts from the same producer was received. Cases were scattered throughout the country and all had become ill between 3 and 24 November. Sixteen of the cases were females and all age groups (1 to 65 years) were affected; most were children under 10 years of age.

The commonest notified symptoms reported were diarrhoea (bloody diarrhoea in many cases), abdominal cramps, fever, and vomiting. Most of the cases were ill for more than a week.

The gastroenteritis epidemiology team of the Rijksinstituut voor olksgezondheit en Milieu (RIVM, the Dutch institute for public health and the environment) interviewed eight of the first 12 cases with an extensive
trawling questionnaire to identify common factors. These interviews identified three possible risk factors for infection ­ eating chicken, eggs, and bean sprouts. A case control study is under way to investigate if there
is a real association between the cases and any of these food items. At the same time, the company that produced and distributed the contaminated sprouts was contacted and voluntarily took several measures, including intensified testing and blockade of the raw materials from which the contaminated sprouts were grown and amendment of decontamination procedures at the start of cultivation. The company was inspected and environmental samples were taken.

Reported by Teresa Fernandes, Yvonne T H P van Duynhoven (Y.van.Duynhoven@rivm.nl), Carolien M de Jager, Wim J B Wannet, Wilfrid van Pelt (W.van.Pelt@rivm.nl), Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheit en Milieu, Bilthoven, Netherlands.