A Foodborne Outbreak of Gastroenteritis Involving Two Different Pathogens

On the evening of October 10, 1990, many of the 474 inmates of a state prison in Florida began to experience symptoms of gastroenteritis. An investigation included interviews with inmates, evaluation of the kitchen and food-handling practices, cultures of leftover food, stool cultures, and cultures from the nares and skin lesions of food handlers. Of the 331 inmates interviewed, 215 (65%) had diarrhea, vomiting, or both. The median incubation period was 5 hours (range, 1–41 hours). Cases with onset of illness 8 or more hours after the evening meal were more likely than those with earlier onset to have had only diarrhea without vomiting (ρ