Aim: Provincial Public Health Directorate reported an acute gastroenteritis outbreak in Cayirbag Village. An investigation was conducted to identify the cause, mode of transmission and to prevent the recurrence of similar outbreaks.
Methods: In this retrospective cohort investigation, we interviewed 174 residents and detected 112 probable cases. Odds ratios (ORadj) were obtained through unconditional logistic regression model including sex, age, rice and okra.
Results: The attack rate was 64.4%. Main symptoms were vomiting (88.4%), nausea (85.7%), abdominal pain (77.7%), diarrhea (54.5%). Epidemic curve revealed a point source outbreak. Mean incubation period was 3.5 hours (min-max:1-11.5). Meals were prepared outside, at the soil ground, and served one day later. Foods other than rice were stored in the refrigerator. We were unable to obtain information about the storage conditions of the rice. Females developed the illness 1.3 times more compared to males (95%CI:1.01%-1.6%). Risk of disease differed by age groups (p=0.016). After controlling for other factors, consuming rice was 11 times more (95%CI:1.1-109.7). Water, food and stool specimens were tested negative.
Conclusion: Symptoms, incubation period, unsafe food preparation conditions, lack of information on rice storage conditions and epidemiological evidence suggest that this outbreak was due to contaminated rice.
Key words: Outbreaks, Cohort Studies, Rice, Foodborne Diseases Article Language: Turkish English
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