An epidemic of Salmonella typhimurium infection among aircraft passengers.

In February 1976 an outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred among 819 aircraft passengers to and from Gran Canaria. 360 of them had gastroenteritis and 88 were hospitalized. Fecal specimens were collected from 710 of the passengers and 344 of them were positive for Salmonella typhimurium phage type 15. Food served on the flight was the source of infection. The repeated incidences of this kind support the necessity of laying down rules and recommendations for the control of air catering services.