Short Communication Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium in Mauritius Linked to Consumption of Marlin Mousse Mohammad I. Issack, 1 Rene S. Hendriksen, 2 Phimy Lan Keng Lun, 1 Ram K.S. Lutchun, 1 and Frank M. Aarestrup 2 Abstract We report the first outbreak of salmonellosis caused by consumption of contaminated marlin mousse. Between 29 October and 5 November 2008, at least 53 persons developed diarrheal illness, all with a history of eating marlin mousse. Salmonella spp. that did not produce gas from glucose was isolated from stools of 26 affected patients and blood culture from one patient. Salmonella sp. isolates with the same phenotype were isolated in three samples of marlin mousse manufactured on 27 October 2008. The constituents of the mousse were smoked marlin, raw eggs, bovine gelatin, oil, and cream. A laboratory investigation of one sample of marlin mousse manufactured 3 days later, and the individual ingredients sampled a week after production of the contaminated batch were all negative for Salmonella. Serotyping and minimum inhibitory concentration determination were performed on 12 patient isolates related to the outbreak and two mousse isolates. All isolates belonged to Sal- monella serovar Typhimurium and were pansusceptible to all antimicrobials tested. Pulsed-field gel electrophor- esis revealed that all the isolates were indistinguishable, thus implicating the mousse as the vehicle of the outbreak. Introduction S almonella enterica ssp. enterica are among the most common causes of foodborne illness in humans (Todd, 1997). Several serotypes have been reported to cause gastroenteritis, and a wide range of food has been impli- cated as the vehicle of transmission to humans (Acha and Szyfres, 2001). We report the first outbreak of Salmon- ella Typhimurium caused by eating contaminated marlin mousse. Materials and Methods The outbreak On 30 October 2008, the Central Health Laboratory (CHL) in Mauritius received two chilled samples of marlin mousse for microbiological testing. One sample was in a sealed plastic container, whereas the other one was in a half-full unsealed container. Both samples had been manufactured on 27 October. Besides these two original marlin mousse samples, two other samples were received and tested the following week, including another partially consumed specimen with the same date of manufacture and a sealed sample manu- factured on 30 October. Health inspectors had been notified of an incident in a family of six persons who had eaten lunch together on 28 October. All family members who had consumed marlin mousse had become ill the following day with severe diarrhea and vomiting, necessitating admission to a private clinic. Health inspectors promptly asked supermarkets selling marlin mousse to remove the item from their shelves pending the results of investigations. On 3rd November, health inspectors visited the premises where the marlin mousse was produced. A prohibition order was served as the caterer did not have a premarket certificate from the Ministry of Health, which is a pre-requisite for the sale of food in Mauritius. Approximately 60 packs of marlin mousse were produced about three times per week from 1 Central Health Laboratory, Victoria Hospital, Candos, Mauritius. 2 WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance in Foodborne Pathogens and EU Community Reference Laboratory for Antimicrobial Resistance, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen V, Denmark. FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND DISEASE Volume 6, Number 6, 2009 ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089=fpd.2009.0283 739