摘要：Introduction. Bacillus cereus, a ubiquitous bacterium, can be isolated in various starchy food items, causing both emetic and diarrhoeal disease. The real burden of B. cereus out-breaks is actually poorly known in Italy. We report a B. cereus foodborne outbreak that occurred in a pub in Bari (Italy) on January 22nd2012 during a birthday party, promptly reported by the pub owner.Materials and methods. Between January 22ndand 24th2012, we performed a retro-spective cohort study among the guests of the party to identify risk factors associated with illness. Leftovers of different meals were available for microbiological analysis. Fae-cal specimens were collected from cases.Results. A total of 12 cases among the 13 customers (attack rate: 92%) were reported. All cases had consumed basmati rice and sweet and sour vegetables (aetiological frac-tion: 100%). B. cereus was isolated from both basmati rice served during the party and faecal specimens.Discussion. The close collaboration between the pub owner and the public health of-ficers and the possibility to test food leftovers and stool samples contributed to prevent further cases
