ABSTRACT
VIETBIO [Innovative approaches to biodiversity discovery and characterisation in Vietnam] is a bilateral German-Vietnamese research and capacity building project focusing on the development and transfer of new methods and technology towards an integrated biodiversity discovery and monitoring system for Vietnam. Dedicated field training and testing of innovative methodologies were undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park as part and with support of the project, which led to the new biodiversity data and records made available in this article collection. VIETBIO is a collaboration between the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN), the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin (BGBM) and the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (VNMN), the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), the Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE), as well as the Institute of Tropical Biology (ITB); all Vietnamese institutions belong to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). The article collection "VIETBIO" (https://doi.org/10.3897/bdj.coll.63) reports original results of recent biodiversity recording and survey work undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park, northern Vietnam, under the framework of the VIETBIO project. The collection consist of this "main" cover paper - characterising the study area, the general project approaches and activities, while also giving an extensive overview on previous studies from this area - followed by individual papers for higher taxa as studied during the project. The main purpose is to make primary biodiversity records openly available, including several new and interesting findings for this biodiversity-rich conservation area. All individual data papers with their respective primary records are expected to provide useful baselines for further taxonomic, phylogenetic, ecological and conservation-related studies on the respective taxa and, thus, will be maintained as separate datasets, including separate GUIDs also for further updating.
ABSTRACT
An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred among workers of company X after eating lunch prepared by a catering service. Of 430 workers attending the meal, 56 were hospitalized with abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea, according to the initial report. We conducted an investigation to identify the extent, vehicle, and source of the outbreak. In our case-control study, a case was a worker who attended the meal and who was hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis; controls were randomly selected from non-ill workers. Cases and controls were interviewed using a standard questionnaire. We used logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios for the consumption of food items. Catering service facilities and food handlers working for the service were inspected. Food samples from the catering service were tested at reference laboratories. Of hospitalized cases, 54 fulfilled the case definition, but no stool specimens were collected for laboratory testing. Of four food items served during lunch, only "squash and pork soup" was significantly associated with gastroenteritis, with an adjusted odds ratio of 9.5 (95 % CI 3.2, 27.7). The caterer did not separate cooked from raw foods but used the same counter for both. Cooked foods were kept at room temperature for about 4 h before serving. Four of 14 food handlers were not trained on basic food safety principles and did not have health certificates. Although no microbiological confirmation was obtained, our epidemiological investigation suggested that squash and pork soup caused the outbreak. Hospitals should be instructed to obtain stool specimens from patients with gastroenteritis. Food catering services should be educated in basic food safety measures.
