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In January 2000, a cluster of six cases of Salmonella Typhimurium RDNC ('Reacts Does Not Conform') A047 were notified to the Communicable Disease Control Branch. All six cases resided in the same geographical area with an age range from one to 77 years (median age 38 years). The epidemiological investigation found that five of the six cases had eaten food at a local Chinese restaurant on 24 and 25 December 1999. No other risk factors were identified.

Four cases attended the restaurant on 25 December for Christmas lunch and consumed foods from the Chinese and/or the Australian Banquet. The one case who ate at the restaurant on Christmas Eve ordered individual dishes from the restaurant menu. Common foods consumed by all cases included prawn chips; spring rolls, special fried rice, roast pork plum sauce and chicken and sweet corn soup. All food including sauces and fillings for spring rolls is prepared at the restaurant. Subsequent microbiological sampling on fresh and pre-prepared foods and equipment and environmental surfaces was negative. Restaurant staff did not report gastrointestinal illness or overseas travel within the previous six months.

This previously unrecognised Salmonella Typhimurium phage type (RDNC A047) was epidemiologically linked with the consumption of food prepared at a local Chinese restaurant.

Footnotes
* Communicable Disease Control Branch, Department of Human Services South Australia

This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 24, No 11, November 2000.