Weiler Natalie, Leotta Gerardo A, Zárate Mirian N, Manfredi Eduardo, Alvarez Mercedes E, Rivas Marta
Departamento de Bacteriología y Micología, Laboratorio Central de Salud Pública, Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social de la República del Paraguay, Asunción, Paraguay.
Rev Argent Microbiol. 2011 Jan-Mar;43(1):33-6. doi: 10.1590/S0325-75412011000100007.
During March 2007 there was an epidemic outbreak associated with the consumption of ultrapasteurized milk. Four hundred people were affected and 60 required hospitalization. S. aureus subspecies aureus was isolated from 5 patients, 3 operators and 3 milk samples. All strains produced enterotoxins. Strains isolated from 3 patients, one operator and all the milk samples carried the genes encoding enterotoxins C (sec) and D (sed), and showed an indistinguishable macrorestriction pattern (SmaI-PFGE). Milk was identified as the source of intoxication and a production line operator as the source of contamination. This is the first foodborne outbreak reported in Paraguay whose agent was isolated, characterized and subtypified in the production plant, the food and the affected people.
