Salmonella in the Caribbean
IHP-330-X6659 Principles of Epidemiology
Southern New Hampshire University
Julie Bytnar
August 14th, 2022
Salmonella in the Caribbean had an outbreak in the mid 1980's that affected thousands of
residents and tourists. When this event took place in the 80's and 90's it did not get the attention
that was needed to stop the outbreak at the time. People visiting and living on the island had
gotten sick with a bad case of diarrhea and GI issues. These cases flagged an investigation to see
what may be causing the outbreak with so many people affected. Bacterial strains of salmonella
found were Enteritidis, Typhimurium, and more. Needing to take a step into controlling the
outbreak researchers needed to figure out where, when, who and how the outbreak had occurred.
In this study, everyone who had reported their symptoms and illness all came into contact with
the same issue, they all had raw or undercooked eggs. In the surrounding area, six out of ten
farms did not handle their eggs to sanitation guidelines. This issue was found while under
investigation. The age group who this issue affected the most was children ages 0-4 years and
age 5-9. In the research that is available, it seems that the year 1996 was the worst in the
outbreak. In the months of February to mid-April had most cases in this year and then spiking
back up during the winter months. Research assumed the spike was due to the holidays. The
agriculture industry had to approve new sanitation strategies to help stop an outbreak like this
from happening again. The concerns of taking potential sales and income away from the island
are a concern for locals who work in the tourist industry and also farming.
Social and behavioral determinants that are strongly linked to the public health issue in
the research of the salmonella outbreak in the Caribbean are the lack of education and training.
socioeconomic statuses, and whether they were island residents. These are all delays that caused
the stopping of the outbreak. It was hard for professionals to keep track at first because of the
islands being such a high tourist location. Island residents not having access to healthcare
because of their social economics. Either they needed to attend work to provide income for their
family, or they could not afford to seek healthcare for their symptoms. Both which could
potentially spread the illness. The lack of knowledge of what was happening and how it was
being spread delayed the stopping of the outbreak. All of these issues were beyond dangerous for
an island that lives solely from tourism.
One disparity that took place in this area of the Caribbean was the lack of education of
sanitation. The farmers not having the knowledge of safely attending to their flocks after
gathering their produce put all of the vendors and consumers at risk. In the article, it has a
mention of the unsanitary conditions the flocks were kept in. The second dispari