Investigation of concurrent outbreaks of gastroenteritis and typhoid feverfollowing a party on a floating restaurant, France, March 1998

A retrospective cohort study was carried out to investigate concurrent outb reaks of gastroenteritis and typhoid fever that occurred among guests of a supper on a floating restaurant in France in March 1998. A total of 133 gue sts (attack rate = 90%) reported gastroenteritis within 12 days of the supp er. Twenty-seven guests developed typhoid fever (attack rate = 18%) of whom 15 were confirmed by stool or blood culture. All patients with typhoid fev er had had an initial gastroenteritis. The results suggest that the same fo od items served during the supper, chicken and rice, were the vehicles of b oth gastroenteritis and typhoid fever, but the authors could not determine the specific source of infection. Initial gastroenteritis has been describe d as a clinical manifestation of typhoid fever but whether or not these two syndromes (gastroenteritis and typhoid fever) were due to the same etiolog y remains unclear in this outbreak.