Movatterモバイル変換

• Hisayoshi Yoshida

  Sakai City Institute of Public Health, Japan

• Mitsuko Matsuo

  Sakai City Institute of Public Health, Japan

• Tatsuya Miyoshi

  Sakai City Institute of Public Health, Japan

• Kiyoko Uchino

  Sakai City Institute of Public Health, Japan

• Hiroyuki Nakaguchi

  Sakai City Public Health Center, Japan

• Toshio Fukumoto

  Sakai City Public Health Center, Japan

• Yoko Teranaka

  Sakai City Public Health Center, Japan

• Tomoyuki Tanaka

  Sakai City Institute of Public Health, Japan

On October 17, 2006, the Sakai City Public Health Center received a report of acute gastroenteritis among 4 members from the same company who had eaten raw meat dish called “Yukke: Korean-style beef tartar” and raw liver at a rotisserie in Sakai City on October 7. Based on information from interviews, the median incubation period was 5.5 (range, 5 - 7 days), and the median length of illness was 7 days (range, 4 - 10 days). The illness was characterized by a prolonged incubation period, non-bloody watery diarrhea, reduced vomiting, and light fever, which led us to suspect an enteric protozoan infection. Stool specimens obtained from 3 of the 4 symptomatic patients were positive forCryptosporidium oocysts. They, along with 2 food workers, were negative for food poisoning bacteria or Norovirus. Genotyping of theCryptosporidium isolates by direct sequencing of PCR products revealed that all the isolates were theC. parvum genotype II (bovine) and the subgenotype of IIa with 100 % homology with respective 18S rRNA andCpgp40/15 genes. Positive implementation of tests for enteric protozoa includingCryptosporidium is necessary in the differential diagnosis of suspected foodborne gastroenteritis, particularly when it is characterized by a prolonged incubation period and severe watery diarrhea. In fact, we were able to diagnose the illness as cryptosporidiosis without waiting for the results of bacteriological and virological examinations, and thus prevented the possible occurrence of a secondary infection through an ill patient who works as cooking personnel in the company.