CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS FOOD POISONING REPORT OF AN OUTBREAK

Abstract

An outbreak of food poisoning due to C. perfringens contaminated lamb stew affecting an estimated 314 college students. The clinical illness consisted of an abrupt onset of diarrhea, abdominal cramps and headache without vomiting or fever and lasted less than 24 hours. The median incubation period was 10 hours. The distinguishing epidemiologic features of the outbreak were an abrupt rise and fall of the epidemic curve, a high primary attack rate (63.3%) among those consuming the food and lack of evidence of secondary person to person spread. The lamb shoulder was roasted the night before the outbreak. The meat was then reheated and served as a stew the following day. Food poisoning by C. perfringens is quite common in the United States and Great Britain. The clinical and epidemiological features of this outbreak suggested that the diseasf was not initiated directly by an infection but rather by other agent(s), such as bacterial exotoxin or a compound (phosphorylcholine) produced by exotoxin hydrolysis of lecithin in the contaminated food.