View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

Chapter 1
1.12.2. Previously reported S. Agona outbreaks
There was a dramatic increase in the number of cases of S. Agona reported
in Israel in 1995-1996, with 2200 cases reported in a 5 month period [45].
However an epidemiological investigation failed to identify a link with the
food chain until authorities received a call from the health authorities in
the UK reporting that there was an outbreak of S. Agona which they
suspected to have come from ready to eat kosher savoury snacks imported
from Israel [45]. The international outbreak, with cases reported in the UK,
US and Canada was first noticed as all the reported cases were from
children with “Jewish sounding surnames” [46]. The link to the food
product had not previously been traced back to the snack in Israel as the
snack was consumed by most young children in Israel. The contaminated
snacks were manufactured on at least 7 occasions over a 4 month period
which suggests a prolonged fault in good manufacturing practices within
the food processing plant [46]. During an environmental investigation of
the food plant S. Agona was not detected [45]. However the contaminated
product contained high quantities of bacterial strain responsible for the
outbreak (2-45 organisms per 25g packet of produce) [46]. PFGE was used
to assess the genetic relatedness of the samples from the UK, US, Canada
and France. The results of the investigation indicated that the strains were
closely related (indistinguishable PFGE pattern) [47].
In 1996, a smaller outbreak of S. Agona PT15 (6 confirmed cases) was
reported in the UK. The outbreak was associated with the consumption of
undercooked turkey meat. After an investigation, the contamination was
suspected to stem from deficiencies in raw meat handling, preparation and
appropriate cooking practices [48]. In 1996 there was also an outbreak of S.
Agona in the state of Texas, US. This outbreak was responsible for eighteen
salmonellosis cases involving improperly prepared machacado (air dried
raw beef product) in two restaurants [49].
Page
12