An outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium DT104 food poisoning associated with eating beef

An outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium DT104 infection in Shropshire in May 1995 was identified when four isolates were noted to be from members or supporters of a local football team that had held several social functions in the same week. The subsequent investigation identified 16 people with gastrointestinal symptoms and 12 with microbiologically confirmed infection. The outbreak was complex, associated with several social functions on different days, but infection was associated with eating beef at a public house. A number of errors were detected in the cooking, storage, and handling of the implicated food. The investigation identified beef as the vehicle of infection in this outbreak but was unable to show whether it was the original source of infection or whether cross or manual contamination occurred in the kitchen.