[Epidemiologic public health conclusions from observations of illnesses caused by Salmonella enteritidis].

11 Persons fell ill after having eaten a cream cake, prepared from two hen's eggs just after buying. One of the eggs must have contained about a thousand million of S. enteritidis, according to the concentration of bacteria found in the frozen cream. A 41-year old cook without any predisposition got septicemia by S. enteritidis after tasting a mixture of refrigerator-cooled eggs and minced meat, bought one day previously. 9 of 57 diseased inmates of an old-age home died from S. enteritidis infections after eating a strawberry cream with whipped whites of eggs. The following requirements are mandatory, as concluded from observations made during these incidents: Hen's eggs should be stored in a refrigerator already before they are sold, and the time of storage should be limited to two weeks. Pasteurized egg products should be offered also in the retail trade. To improve detection of sources of infection it would be necessary to store a sample of each lot of feed in farms with layer flocks or with other big livestock and in the feed mills. The most important measure would be the prescription of a general decontamination of the mixed feed just before supplying it to the farmer.