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Epidemiology and Infection logoLink to Epidemiology and Infection
. 2000 Feb;124(1):1–7. doi: 10.1017/s0950268899003465

A community--wide outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium infection associated with eating a raw milk soft cheese in France.

H De Valk 1, E Delarocque-Astagneau 1, G Colomb 1, S Ple 1, E Godard 1, V Vaillant 1, S Haeghebaert 1, P H Bouvet 1, F Grimont 1, P Grimont 1, J C Desenclos 1
PMCID: PMC2810876  PMID: 10722123

Abstract

In 1997, a community-wide outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) infection occurred in France. The investigation included case searching and a case-control study. A case was defined as a resident of the Jura district with fever or diarrhoea between 12 May and 8 July 1997, from whom S. typhimurium was isolated in stool or blood. One hundred and thirteen cases were identified. Thirty-three (83 %) of 40 cases but only 23 (55 %) of 42 community controls, matched for age and area of residence, reported eating Morbier cheese (Odds ratio: 6.5; 95 % Confidence Interval: 1.4-28.8). Morbier cheese samples taken from the refrigerators of two case-patients and one symptom-free neighbour cultured positive for S. typhimurium of the same phage type as the human isolates. The analysis of distribution channels incriminated one batch from a single processing plant. These findings show that an unpasteurized soft cheese is an effective vehicle of S. typhimurium transmission.

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