Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0017160 (gastroenteritis)
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On November 7, 1985, a Clostridium perfringens gastroenteritis outbreak occurred in approximately 44% of the 1,362 employees at a Connecticut factory. Although the same foods were served to all three shifts at an employee banquet on November 6, the attack rate was almost twice as high for those who ate on the day shift (attack rate = 50%) than for those on the evening shift (attack rate = 20%) or night shift (attack rate = 29%). Among employees of the day shift, attack rates were highest for those who ate during the first 30 minutes of the 2.5-hour day shift serving period and decreased throughout the serving period. The one-hour evening shift serving period had a similar trend toward higher attack rates earlier in the serving period. Four main-course foods were significantly associated with illness, and over 95% of the employees had eaten each of them. Stratified analysis indicated that gravy was the responsible food and, furthermore, that the decreasing attack rate pattern within serving periods occurred only for those who ate gravy. The gravy had been prepared 12-24 hours in advance of banquet service. After it was prepared, the gravy was improperly cooled and was reheated shortly before and throughout the serving periods. Persons who ate gravy that had been reheated for the longest period of time had the lowest attack rate, probably because they were exposed to a lower concentration of organisms. This outbreak underscores the need for properly reheating food to prevent C. perfringens gastroenteritis and suggests that analysis of attack rate trends may provide important epidemiologic clues to understanding the causes of foodborne disease outbreaks.
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PMID:A large Clostridium perfringens foodborne outbreak with an unusual attack rate pattern. 289 40

Factors that contributed to foodborne outbreaks that were reported in the U.S. from 1973-1976 are identified and categorized by disease and by locale in which incriminated foods were mishandled. Data from the same years are tallied separately and combined with data from the years 1961-1972. Inadequate cooling was associated with most foodborne outbreaks, with many bacterial foodborne diseases (such as salmonellosis, staphylococcal food poisoning, and Clostridium perfringens gastroenteritis), and frequently with outbreaks that originated from foods prepared in foodservice establishments and homes. Inadequate cooling practices were usually either failure to refrigerate cooked foods or the storing of foods in large stock pots or other large containers that were refrigerated. Other important factors that contributed to foodborne outbreaks were the lapse of a day or more between preparing and serving (coupled with inadequate refrigeration or hot-holding during this time), handling of cooked foods by infected persons, inadequate cooking or other thermal processing, inadequately high temperatures during hot storage, inadequately high reheating temperatures, inadequate cleaning of kitchen or processing equipment, ingestion of contaminated raw food or ingredient, and cross contamination. The frequency of involvements of the factors that contributed to outbreaks in England and Wales was quite similar. The principal factors that contributed to staphylococcal food poisoning were inadequate cooling practices, infected person manipulating cooked food, and lapse of a day or more between preparing and serving. The principal factors that contributed to C. perfringens gastroenteritis were inadequate cooling practices, lapse of a day or more between preparing and serving, and inadequately high temperatures during hot-holding and reheating. The principal factors that contributed to salmonellosis were inadequate cooling practices, contaminated raw ingredients, inadequate cooking or thermal processing, and cross-contamination.
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PMID:Factors that Contribute to Outbreaks of Foodborne Disease. 3081 55

Roasting of whole pigs for summer picnics is popular, but technically difficult. We report an outbreak of gastroenteritis which followed a pig roast in Colorado. Twenty (35%) of 57 guests who had attended the roast had nausea, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, or fever. An investigation implicated pork as the vehicle of transmission (p = 0.003, Fisher exact test). The 11 stool specimens tested were not cultured anaerobically, but the illness was strongly suggestive of Clostridium perfringens gastroenteritis. An environmental investigation revealed deficiencies in both storage and cooking of the commercially prepared pig. To prevent foodborne outbreaks of illness resulting from whole pig roasts, suppliers should caution customers about adequate cooking processes, customers should be aware of refrigeration requirements if the animal is to be stored before cooking, meat thermometers should be used to monitor internal cooking temperatures, other food should not be cooked inside the pig carcass during roasting, and leftover meat should be promptly cooled for later consumption.
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PMID:Foodborne Illness Associated with a Pig Roast. 3097 24