ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate a 1995 outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections and to assess the safety of meat dehydration methods. DESIGN: Survey subsequent to routine surveillance report, environmental investigations, and laboratory experimentation. SETTING: Oregon community. PARTICIPANTS: Members of an extended household and their social contacts with confirmed or presumptive E coli O157:H7 infections. RESULTS: A total of 6 confirmed and 5 presumptive cases were identified. Homemade venison jerky was implicated as the source of transmission. E coli O157:H7 with the same distinctive, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern seen in the case isolates was recovered from leftover jerky, uncooked meat from the same deer, a saw used to dismember the carcass, and fragments of the deer hide. In a subsequent survey, E coli O157:H7 was recovered from 3 (9%) of 32 deer fecal pellets collected in nearby forest land. In the laboratory, inoculated venison was dried at several time and temperature combinations, ranging up to 10 hours at 62.8 degrees C. Viable organisms were recovered under all conditions tested. CONCLUSIONS: Deer can be colonized by E coli O157:H7 and can be a source of human infections. Conditions necessary to ensure the safety of dried meat deserve further review. Game should be handled with the same caution indicated for commercially slaughtered meat.
Subject(s)
Deer , Escherichia coli Infections/epidemiology , Escherichia coli O157/isolation & purification , Foodborne Diseases/epidemiology , Meat/microbiology , Adolescent , Adult , Animals , Bacterial Typing Techniques , Child , Child, Preschool , Deer/microbiology , Diarrhea/microbiology , Disease Outbreaks , Escherichia coli Infections/etiology , Food Handling , Foodborne Diseases/etiology , Humans , Infant , Middle Aged , Oregon/epidemiologyABSTRACT
After a retreat to an Oregon farm, 19 of 31 college students developed an acute gastrointestinal illness. Campylobacter jejuni infection was recognized in all the ill students and caused asymptomatic infections in three others. In total, 22 (88%) of 25 students who consumed raw milk for the first time became infected as compared with none of two who had not consumed raw milk. Among ten persons who chronically consumed raw milk, none was ill, a striking difference from the 76% attack rate among the 25 acutely exposed students. The quantity of raw milk consumed was directly related to the occurrence and severity of illness. Acutely infected students showed significant rises in C jejuni-specific immunoglobulins, whereas the low antibody levels seen in unexposed persons did not rise. In contrast, acute-phase serum samples from persons with chronic exposure to raw milk showed elevated antibody levels to C jejuni. These findings indicate that chronic raw milk consumption is associated with elevated levels of C jejuni-specific serum antibodies and with immunity to symptomatic infection.
