Foodborne giardiasis in a corporate office setting

Abstract

Giardiasis is the most commonly reported intestinal protozoal infection worldwide, but its relatively long incubation period and often insidious onset make detection of common-source outbreaks difficult. Few well-documented foodborne outbreaks of giardiasis have been reported. In November 1990, such an outbreak among insurance company employeesresulted in 18labora-tory-confirmed and 9 suspected cases of giardiasis. A case-eontrol study of 26 ill and 162 well employees implicated raw sliced vegetables served in the employee cafeteria and prepared by a food handler infected with Giardia lamblia as the probable vehicle (odds ratio, 5.1; 95 % confi-dence interval, 1.4-22.7). This outbreak illustrates the potential for transmission of Giardia organisms to occur in commercial establishments through a frequently served food item. Infection with Giardia lamblia, the most common para-sitic cause of diarrhea, may be acquired through person-to-person transmission or ingestion of fecally contaminated water or food [ I]. However, the long incubation period, insid-ious onset, and variable symptoms of giardiasis make detec-tion of foodborne outbreaks difficult. Foodborne transmis