After receiving multiple complaints of illness following a catered dinner, the Montgomery County Health Department along with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Agriculture conducted an outbreak investigation.

An internet-based questionnaire was emailed to the approximately 215 attendees of the dinner. Thirty seven of the 89 respondents met the case definition for an outbreak case. One case was hospitalized for less than a day. No one died. Stool specimen collection kits were offered but no one submitted specimens.

The etiological agent and the vehicle of transmission could not be determined definitively.One serving line was associated with illness, but it is not known from which serving line the tested pulled pork samples originated. While Clostridium perfringens was detected in both samples of pulled pork, at 930 cfu/g and 220 cfu/g, this level is below the 100,000 organisms per gram infective dose usually associated with human illness. Based on symptoms, incubation and duration, investigators concluded the most likely agent was Clostridium perfringens.

The caterer of this event was not licensed by the Kansas Department of Agriculture; however, because they did not cater food at events on seven days or more within one calendar year, they were not required to be licensed. The caterer and volunteers prepared food out of the caterer’s home and at the event. Because they did not operate out of a business location, no inspection was performed. Individuals serving food were volunteers and participants in the event. They were not available to be interviewed