RESUMEN
Salmonella spp. was the major cause of reported foodborne diseases in the last years in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, south of Brazil. Epidemiological data on salmonellosis, occurred in the period of 1997 to 1999 and supplied by the Division of Sanitary Surveillance (DVS/RS), were analyzed according to the following factors: total number of confirmed outbreaks, number of people involved, outbreaks incidence according to the period of the year, age and sex of involved people, food vehicle, food storage conditions, local where the disease occurred, and possible causes of the outbreaks. The results indicated that 8217 people were involved, and 1557 had to be hospitalized. The highest number of outbreaks occurred during springtime and the principal age group affected was between 16 and 50 years. The most common food vehicle was salad prepared with homemade mayonnaise (42.45 percent). The principal causes of salmonellosis were raw-materials not submitted to regulatory inspection (22.92 percent), mainly eggs, and foods maintained at room temperature for more than 2 hours (20.55 percent). The majority of the outbreaks occurred in private homes (43.70 percent) and commercial food establishments (25.21 percent).