Electronic network for monitoring travellers' diarrhoea and detection of an outbreak caused by Salmonella enteritidis among overseas travellers

The Traveller's Diarrhoea Network, by which the Infectious Disease Surveill ance Center is electronically connected with two major airport quarantine s tations and three infectious disease hospitals, was launched in February 19 88 in Japan. The data on travellers' diarrhoea detected is reported weekly by e-mail. Two clusters of infection among travellers returning from Italy were reported by two airport quarantine stations at the end of September 19 98. A total of 12 salmonella isolates from 2 clusters were examined. All we re identified as Salmonella enteritidis, phage type 4 and showed identical banding patterns on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. A case-control study showed that the scrambled eggs served at the hotel restaurant in Rome were the likely source of this outbreak. This outbreak could not have been detec ted promptly and investigated easily without the e-mail network. Internatio nal exchange of data on travellers' diarrhoea is important for preventing a nd controlling food-borne illnesses infected abroad.