An outbreak of food poisoning which occurred in July, 1987, in the city of Ouro Preto, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is reported. The food involved was a Minas-type cheese, contamined by Staphylococcus aureus to the level of 9.3 x 10(7) CFU/g. Enterotoxin producing strains of types A,B,D and E were detected. The sample analysed also showed contamination by fecal coliforms above 1.1 x 10(5)/g (MPN), but Salmonella were not present. Due to characteristic symptoms and high contamination it was concluded that Staphylococcus aureus was the pathogene responsible for the outbreak.
Staphylococcal food poisoning; Staphylococcus aureus; Cheese; Disease outbreaks