Natural or raw almonds and an outbreak of a rare phage type of Salmonella enteritidis infection.

In December 2000, an increase in the number of Salmonella enteritidis cases was reported in Ontario by the Ontario Central Public Health Laboratory. In January 2001, S. enteritidis isolates from Ontario for the months of November and December 2000, and January 2001, were submitted to the National Laboratory for Enteric Pathogens for phage typing. Several isolates of a rare phage type, PT30, were identified. S. enteritidis PT30 had not been reported in Canada since 1992 (Dr. R Ahmed, National Laboratory for Enteric Pathogens, Winnipeg: personal communication, 2001). By March 2001, S. enteritidis PT30 cases had been identified in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.