In conclusion, to our knowledge this is the first description of a foodpoisoning outbreak due to staphylococcal enterotoxins in ice-cream in recent time. An enterotoxin type A producing S. aureus of spa-type t127 was found in human cases and different types of ice-cream, respectively and displayed almost indistinguishable pheno- and genotypes with regard to the methods applied in this study. Suitable hygienic measurements, including personal hygiene when handling food, are needed at all processing steps to reduce the possibility of introduction of a severe hazard into the food chain. In case of a future food-borne outbreak, investigations should include the analysis of nasal samples taken from all people handling the food, as well as samples from all food components. Subsequent in-depth analyses of strains are needed
as the results allow for the identification of epidemiological correlations of strains. Hence, an interdisciplinary team taking together experts from both, the human and veterinary health side, epidemiologists, microbiologists and food hygiene experts, all of them working together hand in hand is a crucial prerequisite for successful outbreak investigation.
Particularly, if hazards such as SE, with high estimated numbers of unreported cases are the causing agent.