Outbreak of typhoid fever on the French Riviera

A case-control study was conducted to establish the source of a community o utbreak of typhoid fever in Utelle, France, a village located in the Alpes- Maritimes district of the French Riviera. Thirteen confirmed cases of typho id fever and 41 confirmed community controls were included in the study. Ca ses and controls did not differ regarding ingestion of water. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified consumption of pork meats during a village festival as the only statistically significant risk factor for typh oid fever after adjusting for age and sex (odds ratio, 76.0; 95% confidence interval, 3.5-1660), Assessment of food-handling procedures at the inn whe re the food had been prepared showed that the refrigeration and cooking fac ilities were inadequate to maintain a proper sanitary environment during th e preparation of a meal for 350 people. Although the exact cause of the epi demic could not be confirmed, food contaminated hv a chronic typhi carrier is the most plausible hypothesis.