Merrill G A, Werner S B, Bryant R G, Fredson D, Kelly K
JAMA. 1984;252(8):1019-22.
Staphylococcal contamination of intact, hard-boiled eggs resulted in the food poisoning of an estimated 300 children out of 850 who had participated in an Easter egg hunt. Enterotoxigenic staphylococci that were isolated from the Easter eggs matched that obtained from an infected cook who prepared the eggs three to five days before the hunt and which he left unrefrigerated. Experimental studies demonstrated that heated eggs can absorb 2 mL of contaminated cool water through intact eggshells. When water was inoculated with pathogenic staphylococci at even low contamination levels, rapid growth and enterotoxin production within cooked eggs could be easily duplicated. This is the first large outbreak of its type; safeguards can and should be employed to prevent future ones.
完好无损的煮鸡蛋受到葡萄球菌污染，导致850名参加复活节寻蛋活动的儿童中约300人食物中毒。从复活节彩蛋中分离出的产肠毒素葡萄球菌与一名受感染厨师所携带的菌株相匹配，该厨师在寻蛋活动前三到五天准备了这些鸡蛋，且未冷藏。实验研究表明，加热后的鸡蛋可通过完整的蛋壳吸收2毫升受污染的凉水。即使污染水平很低，当水中接种致病性葡萄球菌时，熟鸡蛋内的细菌也能迅速生长并产生肠毒素。这是此类首次大规模疫情；可以而且应该采取保障措施以防止未来发生此类事件。
