An outbreak of Salmonella Hadar associated with roast rabbit in a restaurant

In August 1997, an outbreak of gastroenteritis from Salmonella Hadar phage type 2 occurred among customers of a restaurant in Rimini (Emilia-Romagna r egion, Italy). Twenty-nine people who had eaten food prepared in the restau rant on 2 or 3 August had symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. The infection was culture-confirmed in 24 cases and the stool specimens of four healthy p eople were positive for Salmonella Hadar. Twelve people had to be hospitali zed and a 3-year old girl died. The case-control study identified roast rab bit as the likely vehicle of infection (OR: 6.00; CI 95%: 1.65-22.83). The microbiological investigation carried out on food taken from the restaurant confirmed high levels of Salmonella Hadar in a sample of roast rabbit. Sin ce the rabbit was well cooked, the food contamination likely occurred after cooking. Poor hygienic conditions found in the restaurant, together with i nappropriate food-handling practices and inadequate storage temperatures ma y have contributed to spread to other foods and the severity of the outbrea k.