A Clostridium perfringens food poisoning outbreak associated with consumption of chicken curry supplied by a home caterer

Abstract

A woman developed symptoms of fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting approximately 8 h after attending a buffet lunch served at a multicultural event in North-east England in May 2005. She became aware of other cases of illness in those attending the event, and contacted her local environmental health department who initiated an investigation to establish if there was an association between reported illness and food items eaten at this event, and institute appropriate public health interventions. A list of food items at the buffet was provided by the event organizers. Questionnaires were sent out to 92 known guests at the event about illness and food eaten, and 73 (54 cases and 19 controls) were returned with sufficient detail of food history and illness for analysis. Consumption of chicken curry, chick pea curry, boiled rice and cassava cake were all significantly associated with