Large-Scale Staphylococcus aureus Foodborne Disease Poisoning Outbreak among Primary School Children

Abstract

A large-scale food poisoning outbreak happened at a school canteen in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam, in 2018, resulting in the hospitalization of 352 students with clinical symptoms indicative of a staphylococcal food poisoning. A subsequent laboratory investigation detected Staphylococcus aureus in two food items—deep-fried shrimp and chicken floss—at up to 103 CFU/mL, and staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) in chicken floss at ≥ 0.211 ng SEs/g. S. aureus was also isolated from patients’ vomit and stool samples, and kitchen workers’ stool samples, as well as in frozen chicken meat, but not on the kitchen workers’ hand surfaces, suggesting the cause of this food poisoning outbreak was S. aureus contamination of the chicken meat. Molecular characterization revealed the S. aureus strains isolated from all samples were closely related; all belonged to sequence type (ST) ST6 and spa type t701 and carried both sea and sec genes. This SE-producing strain was resistant to penicillin and tetracycline, while still susceptible to oxacillin, erythromycin, gentamicin, methicillin, and vancomycin. Since S. aureus food poisonings are often underreported, our investigation added to the sparse qualitative and quantitative data of pathogenic S. aureus monitoring and surveillance in Vietnam, providing needed knowledge to guide preventative measures for future outbreaks.

Most involved microorganisms in foodborne diseases outbreaks: A systematic review / Microrganismos mais envolvidos em surtos de doenças transmitidas por alimentos: uma revisão sistemática

“…aureus associated with the ingestion of gaajar halwa (carrot pudding) prepared with khoa , a perishable dairy product (AMINHARATI et al, 2019;LE et al, 2021;VARDHAN et al, 2021;WU Y. et al, 2018).…”

Antibiotic Susceptibility of Staphylococcus Species Isolated in Raw Chicken Meat from Retail Stores

“…Staphylococcal food contamination represents the greatest economically significant foodborne illness [ 28 ] and produces gastrointestinal illness through a wide variety of toxins [ 29 ], including staphylococcal enterotoxins characterized by vomiting and diarrhea within 2 to 6 h after the consumption of contaminated food [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. A large number of daily consumed foods serve as an optimum growth medium for S. aureus [ 27 ], and this varies from country to country, especially due to different habits in food consumption [ 33 ].…”

Prevalence, multiple antibiotic resistance and virulence profile of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in retail poultry meat from Edo, Nigeria

“…Furthermore, HA-MRSA, livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA), and CA-MRSA can contaminate human foods, causing cases of staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) (Sergelidis and Angelidis, 2017). S. aureus foodborne disease outbreaks have been reported recently (Le et al, 2021).…”