You’d think microbiologists who work with Salmonella and other dangerous food poisoning organisms would know better, but a government study of a Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak found a deficit of biosafety training and lack of awareness among teachers, students and practitioners in teaching laboratories and clinical labs from coast to coast.
This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presented a final update on the outbreak, which killed one person and sickened more than 100 others in 38 states. It started in late summer 2010 when a cluster of Salmonella illnesses with matching strains of Salmonella Typhimurium turned up in New Mexico.
An investigation by epidemiologists found that a growing cluster of the illnesses were identified among students in microbiology teaching laboratories and employees in clinical microbiology laboratories. In addition, several children who live in households with a person who worked or studied in a microbiology lab became ill with the outbreak strain.
The study found that staff working at laboratories that were associated with illness were less likely to have knowledge of biosafety training materials. The CDC subsequently issued reminders to the industry, warning lab workers against taking food, drinks or personal items like car keys, cell phones and mp3 players into the lab. It is thought that these tems, including pens and lab coats, became transmission vehicles for spreading the bugs.
The strain of Salmonella shared by victims in the outbreak was a commercially available type often used in lab settings.
