Salm-Net facilitates collaborative investigation of an outbreak of Salmonella tosamanga infection in Europe.

Abstract

Twenty-eight cases of Salmonella tosamanga infection were identified in six western European countries during the first half of 1995. Salm-Net, a European system for collaborative surveillance of gastrointestinal infection, detected the outbreak and coordinated its investigation. There were 28 cases, 14 of each sex, with a broad age distribution. Interviews with cases to identify common food and other exposures failed to generate a working hypothesis. The initial cluster occurred in a period of eight weeks and, since only one further case occurred in June, the investigation was closed. This incident shows that Salm-Net is effective in identifying international outbreaks of human salmonellosis. Practical difficulties in the field investigation of the outbreak are discussed.