Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
Acknowledgments. This report is part of an ongoing quality assurance project regarding outbreak management at the German consulting center for infection control.
Financial support. This work was funded with institutional funds only.
Conflict of interest. S.S.S. is shareholder of Deutsches Beratungszentrum für Hygiene (BZH GmbH) and receives royalties from Springer, Thieme, Deutsche Krankenhausverlagsgesellschaft, and Consilum infectiorum.
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Foodborne illness outbreak due to Staphylococcus aureus among hospital staff following Hurricane Harvey
Lucila Marquez MD, MPH1,2, Tjin H. Koy BS, MPH, CIC2, Cheryl R. Baker RN, BSN2, Jeanine Graf MD3,
Elaine M. Whaley MSN, CIC2 and Judith R. Campbell MD1,2 1Baylor College of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Houston, Texas, 2Texas Children’s Hospital, Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Houston, Texas and 3Baylor College of Medicine, Section of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Houston, Texas
To the Editor—After Hurricane Harvey, an outbreak of foodborne illness occurred at a hospital in Houston. An investigation implicated a donated catered meal contaminated with Staphylo- coccus aureus. Prompt investigation and interventions prevented the disruption of patient care. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) esti-
mates that 48 million people in the United States develop food- borne disease each year.1,2 More than 9 million cases are due to food contaminated with 1 of 31 known foodborne illness pathogens.1 Gastrointestinal illness after natural disasters result from the disruption of public works or pathogen transmission in crowded temporary housing.3,4 We report a foodborne outbreak that occurred at a hospital in Houston, Texas, in 2017 following Hurricane Harvey. On September 1, 2017, a donated catered meal was served to
staff in the hospital cafeteria. The following day, infection control (IC) staff were notified of several cases of gastrointestinal illness among staff who had consumed the meal.
Author for correspondence: Judith R. Campbell MD, Texas Children’s Hospital, 1102 Bates Avenue, Suite 1120, Houston, Texas ZIPCODE. Email:
judithc@bcm.edu
Cite this article: Marquez L, et al. (2019). Foodborne illness outbreak due to Staphylococcus aureus among hospital staff following Hurricane Harvey. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology 2019, 40, 115–117. doi: 10.1017/ice.2018.272
© 2018 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. Investigation
The meal was delivered to the hospital and was received by the manager of food services. He was interviewed on September 2, 2017, to collect information about the menu and food condition when it was delivered and served. All food was served within 2 hours of arrival. Staffing logs were used to identify individuals who were
working on September 1, 2017. A case was defined as any staff present when the meal was served that developed acute onset of gastrointestinal symptoms (eg, emesis, diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramping, or bloody stool). A questionnaire that assessed food consumed, environmental
exposures, and symptoms was administered to all potentially exposed staff. Leaders notified staff of the possible foodborne outbreak and administered the questionnaire. Data from com- pleted questionnaires were collated for our retrospective cohort study. Attack rates and risk ratios for specific food items were calculated. The Harris County Health Department was notified.
Control Measures
Staff were instructed not to eat any leftover food. The food was secured, and samples of pork sausage, pulled pork, brisket, and
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