Staphylococcal food poisoning in the United States: New facts and old misconceptions
1984
Holmberg, Scott D. | Blake, Paul A.
Reports of 131 staphylococcal food-borne (SFB) outbreaks reported to the Centers for Disease Control during 1977-1981 were reviewed to assess recent epidemiological characteristics of this disease. The results of this assessment indicate that Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A was the only such enterotoxin (of enterotoxings A through E) incriminated. Both milk (the most common food source of enterotoxin C- and D-producing strains) and commercially-packed foods were found to be less common causes of SFB disease than they were prior to 1960. Previously cooked protein foods remain preeminant in SFB disease causation. It also was concluded that the presence or absence of fever in infected persons, skin lesions in food handlers, and significant number of staphylococci in food are unreliable as diagnostic criteria for SFB disease. Epidemiological study remains as a crucial mechanism for identifying the sources and presence of SFB disease. (wz)
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