An outbreak of Salmonella Hadar associated with roast rabbit in a restaurant.

In August 1997, an outbreak of gastroenteritis from Salmonella Hadar phage type 2 occurred among customers of a restaurant in Rimini (Emilia-Romagna region, Italy). Twenty-nine people who had eaten food prepared in the restaurant on 2 or 3 August had symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. The infection was culture-confirmed in 24 cases and the stool specimens of four healthy people were positive for Salmonella Hadar. Twelve people had to be hospitalized and a 3-year old girl died. The case-control study identified roast rabbit as the likely vehicle of infection (OR: 6.00; CI 95%: 1.65-22.83). The microbiological investigation carried out on food taken from the restaurant confirmed high levels of Salmonella Hadar in a sample of roast rabbit. Since the rabbit was well cooked, the food contamination likely occurred after cooking. Poor hygienic conditions found in the restaurant, together with inappropriate food-handling practices and inadequate storage temperatures may have contributed to spread to other foods and the severity of the outbreak.

Use of gloves and prevalence of glove-related reactions in a sample of general dental practitioners in Italy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of the use of gloves and to assess the prevalence of glove-related symptoms in a sample of Italian dentists with a high occupational exposure to latex gloves. METHOD AND MATERIALS: A 31-question instrument was mailed to all dentists (n = 550) practicing in the town of Bologna during 1994 to determine the type of procedures for which gloves were worn by dentists and the prevalence of self-reported glove-related symptoms. RESULTS: Of the dentists who replied to the items (n = 160), 94% reported that they usually wear nonsterile latex examination gloves; and 46% reported that they wear surgical gloves, even if not exclusively. About 98% reported changing gloves after contact with each patient, and 14% reported using disinfectants to treat examination gloves. Of the 106 respondents claiming to use examination gloves for surgical activities, 79 (74%) reported wearing them for extractions. Sterile surgical gloves were reported to be mostly worn for implant placement (47%) and periodontal surgery (42%). There were 46 (29%) responses indicating glove-related problems; of those subjects, 14 (30%) reported having other allergies. CONCLUSION: The use of gloves is common in the sample of Italian dentists, and the choice between nonsterile examination gloves and sterile surgical gloves seems to be made appropriately.

Distribution of indicator bacteria and bacteriophages in shellfish and shellfish-growing waters.

Shellfish (mussels and clams) and shellfish-growing waters were examined for indicator bacteria according to the EC regulations, Salmonella spp., coliphages and anti-Salmonella phages. Samples were collected both from natural-growing areas along the coast and from authorized shellfish-harvesting beds. The coastal area was affected by organic pollution and extensive faecal contamination and, according to the legal requirements, was unsuitable for shellfish farming. The shellfish collected along the coast also showed faecal contamination at levels which did not conform to legal standards. No significant differences were observed between the frequency of isolation of somatic coliphages and indicator bacteria from sea water. In contrast, both the authorized and wild coastal shellfish were contaminated by coliphages at a significantly higher level than the corresponding bacterial indicators for faecal contamination (chi 2 test, P < 0.01). Coliphage concentrations were significantly correlated with faecal indicators in marine waters (P < 0.001) and sediments (P < 0.05), but no correlation was found in shellfish, thus showing their low specificity as indicators of faecal pollution of human origin in shellfish of economic importance.

Evaluation of disinfection treatment systems for municipal wastewater reclamation and reuse.

The efficiency of a number of tertiary treatment systems--filtration, ozonation, chlorination with low levels (TRC < 0.2 ppm) and high levels (TRC < 1 ppm) of residual chlorine--in the disinfection of secondary effluent was assessed in a purification plant treating mixed sewage of municipal (83%) and industrial mainly textile origin (17%). Maximum purification effect was observed when, following secondary treatment with biological oxidation, the sewage was submitted to combined filtration--ozonation treatment (reduction in bacterial indicators of from 4.9 to 7.2 log10 units) or with chlorination with high levels of residual chlorine (reduction in the bacterial indicators of between 2.8 and 4.6 log10 units). However, only ozonation reduced viral indicators with respect to inflow sewage by more than 3 log10 units, the limit considered acceptable for a biological treatment system with supplementary tertiary disinfection treatment. Ozonation however did not complete control all the biological forms present in the sewage, in particular the viruses, present in 36% of ozonized samples at concentrations of from 1 to 480 PFU/100 mL. Ozonation and high-concentration chlorination do not seem to be unfavorably influenced by wastes from laundry and deyng processing; achieving a complete decolorization of the treated effluent, they prove to the suitable treatments for mixed sewage of municipal and industrial mainly textile origin.

Comparison of different selective methods for detection of Listeria species in surface water.

Tests were carried out to evaluate the efficiency of various combinations of selective enrichment and plating techniques using pure cultures of Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria seeligeri and Listeria innocua in suspension and samples of surface water. The best yields for the various Listeria spp. were obtained after a single passage in LEB (Oxoid) or LEB Buffered (Oxoid) and after using Palcam and Oxford agar (Oxoid). Palcam agar was, however, shown to be the most efficient means of detecting the Listeria spp. in the natural water samples.

Study of the prevalence of Listeria spp. in surface water.

The quantity of Listeria species was determined in 49 samples of various types of water (river, brackish water, urban wastewater). Twenty nine strains of Listeria were isolated. These were mainly identified as Listeria monocytogenes (72,4%), but Listeria innocua, Listeria grayi, Listeria ivanohovii and Listeria welshimeri were also present. With the exception of water taken from the estuary, 74.4% of samples contained Listeria in mean concentrations of between 2 MPN/100 ml and 1320 MPN/100 ml in fresh surface water and untreated sewage respectively.