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2012 group A streptococcus outbreak linked to pasta
In March 2012, the Minnesota Department of Health was alerted to a number of Facebook postings suggesting a foodborne outbreak of group A streptococcal pharyngitis among attendees of a high school dance team banquet, according to recent study findings.
“Outside of formal health care setting, social media will likely play an increasing role in outbreak identification,” researchers wrote in the study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. “This can be a boon to public health practitioners if the potential of social media to aid in epidemiologic investigations is recognized along with its limitations.”
Pasta was identified as the source for the outbreak after consumption of a dish prepared by a parent and child who reported having strep throat 3 weeks earlier.
Of 63 people who consumed food at the banquet, 18 primary illnesses occurred. Researchers were unable to find any food or beverage items significantly associated with illness, but pasta consumption had the highest relative risk (RR=3.56; 95% CI, 0.25-50.6).
“We suspect cooked food was contaminated by respiratory droplets from a person who carried the strep bacteria in the throat when the food was cooling or reheating,” Sarah K. Kemble, MD, of the Minnesota Department of Health, said in a press release. “The food probably was not kept hot or cold enough to stop bacterial growth.”
Indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis corresponding to emm subtype 1.0 group A streptococcus colonies were isolated from five people and leftover pasta.
“After a [group A streptococcus] outbreak is identified, isolation and typing of the outbreak strain can enhance understanding of the epidemiology of [group A streptococcus] disease,” researchers wrote. “A variety of molecular methods are available for characterization of [group A streptococcus], increasing our capacity to confirm epidemiologic links and to identify clinicopathologic correlates of particular strains.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the Emerging Infections Program, CDC.
