Web-based Investigation of Multistate Salmonellosis Outbreak

Padmini Srikantiah,Bill Toth,Paul S Mead,Taha Kass-Hout,Roberta Hammond,Sara Stenzel,Susan Van Duyne,Jennifer Adams,R.M Hoekstra,Dean Bodager

doi:10.3201/eid1104.040997

Abstract

We investigated a large outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Javiana among attendees of the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games, including 1,500 organ transplant recipients. Web-based survey methods identified pre-diced tomatoes as the source of this outbreak, which highlights the utility of such investigative tools to cope with the changing epidemiology of foodborne diseases.

Highlights

We investigated a large outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Javiana among attendees of the 2002 U.S Transplant Games, including 1,500 organ transplant recipients
The epidemiology of foodborne illnesses is influenced by a variety of factors, some of which have changed dramatically in recent years
We describe an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Javiana infections affecting a large group of geographically dispersed organ transplant recipients

Summary

Introduction

We investigated a large outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Javiana among attendees of the 2002 U.S Transplant Games, including 1,500 organ transplant recipients. On the basis of interview results, we conducted a Webbased cohort study among Transplant Games attendees to identify risk factors for infection by using eQuest, a software package developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that allows rapid development of Web-based surveys [5]. Using email addresses provided to us by the Transplant Games organizers, we electronically distributed a message on July 20 to attendees (including athletes and spectators), requesting that they complete an outbreak survey.

Results

Conclusion