An Outbreak of Salmonella enterica Serovar Othmarschen at a Funeral Service in Guri-si, South Korea

摘要

Salmonella is one of the major contagious enteric pathogens regularly implicated in cases of food-borne disease in Korea. The most frequent serovars isolated from human beings in Korea were Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. These serovars were responsible for over 63% of food-borne illnesses recorded during 2004-2005 (1). However, Salmonella enterica serovar Othmarschen is a relatively rare serovar which has been isolated from humans as well as animals in Korea. S. Othmarschen was isolated from humans and calves, and a nosocomial outbreak of S. Othmarschen harboring a plasmid encoding for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase TEM-27 was described in previous studies (2-4). In this report, we describe a significant outbreak of S. Othmarschen, which resulted in severe salmonellosis, among persons attending a funeral service in Guri-si.