Intro
The State Health Department became alerted of an outbreak after multiple hospitals reported patients falling ill after eating at local restaurant, “Enviro Taco Bar”. The goal of our investigation was to first create a case definition, to identify cases based on the given case definition, to then identify the causative food item, and then lastly, to identify the biological causative agent of disease, based on clinical symptoms and the environmental conditions.
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Methods
Case interviews were conducted with all those who reported falling ill after eating at the “Enviro Taco Bar”. Data was then organized and placed into an excel spreadsheet and cleaned accordingly. The case definition was defined by those who experienced “diarrhea, or vomiting, or fever” within 5 days of eating at “Enviro Taco Bar”. The total amount of consumed food items by all individuals was then put into a table. Odds ratios (as this was a case-series study) were then calculated for various foods that were consumed by a significant amount of individuals and as well as likely to harbor a causative agent for foodborne …show more content…
The odds ratios for various suspected food items were calculated accordingly. It is important to note that while the confidence intervals all contained the number, indicating non-significance, the sample size was so low that little statistical power was available, therefore, we are still considering the odds ratios significant. The total amount of consumed food items can be seen in figure 1.The three highest odds ratios of suspected food items can be seen in figure 2. The epi-curve based on the case definition and date of onset can be seen in figure 3. The average incubation period based on the case definition was found to be 0.94 days or approximately 22.66
The State Health Department became alerted of an outbreak after multiple hospitals reported patients falling ill after eating at local restaurant, “Enviro Taco Bar”. The goal of our investigation was to first create a case definition, to identify cases based on the given case definition, to then identify the causative food item, and then lastly, to identify the biological causative agent of disease, based on clinical symptoms and the environmental conditions.
________________________________________
Methods
Case interviews were conducted with all those who reported falling ill after eating at the “Enviro Taco Bar”. Data was then organized and placed into an excel spreadsheet and cleaned accordingly. The case definition was defined by those who experienced “diarrhea, or vomiting, or fever” within 5 days of eating at “Enviro Taco Bar”. The total amount of consumed food items by all individuals was then put into a table. Odds ratios (as this was a case-series study) were then calculated for various foods that were consumed by a significant amount of individuals and as well as likely to harbor a causative agent for foodborne …show more content…
The odds ratios for various suspected food items were calculated accordingly. It is important to note that while the confidence intervals all contained the number, indicating non-significance, the sample size was so low that little statistical power was available, therefore, we are still considering the odds ratios significant. The total amount of consumed food items can be seen in figure 1.The three highest odds ratios of suspected food items can be seen in figure 2. The epi-curve based on the case definition and date of onset can be seen in figure 3. The average incubation period based on the case definition was found to be 0.94 days or approximately 22.66