Salmonellosis Epidemic in the First League Hockey Team

Overview

The authors describe an epidemic of salmonellosis in 27 players and officials of the first league hockey team HC Kometa Brno which developed in conjunction with the consumption of a lunch in the facilities where the team usually takes its meals before competitions. The disease affected without exception all participants of the lunch, had a very severe course with high temperatures, weakness and intense diarrhoea sometimes with vomiting. The disease persisted for 3–6 days, the loss of body weight caused mainly by dehydration was 4 to 13 kg. Faeces samples (3) of all affected patients were during the acute stage of the disease bacteriologically positive. Spontaneous debaci- lization took with a single exception 2–4 weeks. The disease was caused by Salmonella enteritidis, phagotype 8. The source was not detected and the vehicle was most probably secondarily contami- nated soup.

Key words:
salmonellosis – epidemic.