An outbreak of staphylococcal food poisoning in the Municipality of Passos, Mg, Brazil

An outbreak of staphylococcol food poisoning involving 42 people who had eaten a meal at a restaurant in the Municipality of Passos, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is reported. Thirty-one of the individuals became ill with vomiting, diarrhea and dizziness within 30 initiates after eating the meal. The,foods suspected were: chicken pancake, rice, beans, tomato sauce and mashed chick-peas. Large numbers ( greater than or equal to 2.0x10(8) CFU/g) of enterotoxigenic staphylococci were present in the chicken pancake. These strains produced enterotoxins A, B and D. Swabs from the nasal cavity, and throat and from under the fingernails of food handlers were cultured for the detection of enterotoxigenic stophylococci carriers. Four out of five of them were healthy carriers of enterotoxin A, B, C and D producing Staphylococcus aureus at the sites cultured and one of them was also a nasal carrier of TSST-1 toxin producing S. aureus. These results indicate that the food handlers would have been the source of the food contamination.