Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) gastroenteritis is a widespread global foodborne disease. To identify the epidemiologic characteristics, sources of food contamination, and risk factors of NTS gastroenteritis, epidemiologic data and stool specimens of diarrheal patients were collected from sentinel hospitals in Baoshan, Shanghai, People's Republic of China, between 2010 and 2014. Food products from nearby farmers' markets and animal feces from live poultry markets and livestock farms were sampled to identify the pathogen; a case-control study was conducted to characterize risk factors of NTS gastroenteritis. Of 3,906 diarrheal patients examined, 266 (6.8%) were positive for Salmonella. The positive rates were higher in summer than in the other seasons. Salmonella Typhimurium (36.1%) and Salmonella Enteritidis (30.8%) were the dominant serovars in the patients. Salmonella was detected in 26.2% pork samples, 7.1 to 7.8% poultry meats, and 3.3 to 8.9% poultry feces. Salmonella Typhimurium was the major serovar in contaminated food and animal feces. Multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis indicated that consumption of pork and quickly cooked eggs increased, whereas separating kitchen knives for cooked and raw food decreased the risk of NTS gastroenteritis, independently. We believe that NTS in poultry feces contaminated the meat products in the same markets and then infected humans if these foods were not sufficiently cooked. To prevent NTS gastroenteritis, it is necessary to survey Salmonella in meats and poultry feces, to cook eggs and pork sufficiently, to separate kitchen knives for cooked and raw food, and to prohibit live poultry trade in fresh meat markets.
Keywords: Animal feces; Case-control study; China; Food product; Gastroenteritis; Salmonella.