Toxoplasma gondii Outbreak Associated With Catered Venison Dinners, Westchester County, New York-January-February 2024.
7 affiliations
- 1New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York, USA.
- 2College of Integrated Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA.
- 3Westchester County Department of Health, White Plains, New York, USA.
- 4Sutter Health, Palo Alto Medical Foundation Toxoplasma Serology Laboratory, the Jack S. Remington Laboratory for Specialty Diagnostics, National Reference Center for the Study and Diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis, Palo Alto, California, USA.
- 5Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Department of Pathology, Palo Alto, California, USA.
- 6University Hospital Center of Nice, Service of Parasitology-Mycology, University of Côte D'Azur, INSERM 1065 C3M, Nice, France.
- 7French National Reference Center for Toxoplasmosis and INSERM U1094, IRD UMR270, University of Limoges, CHU Limoges, Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases in Tropical Zone, Omega Health, Limoges, France.
Abstract
On January 19 and 20, 2024, a caterer in Westchester County, New York, served a seven-course game dinner to approximately 250 guests each evening (500 total). Six courses contained venison from 10 deer harvested in early January through a donation program in another county. All venison courses were reheated on site except the backstrap steaks, which were never frozen and were grilled rare to medium-rare. On February 1, an infectious diseases physician notified the health department of attendees with fever, headache, and myalgia without gastrointestinal symptoms. The caterer and food preparation site were investigated on February 5, and the first positive Toxoplasma gondii serology on February 7 prompted a press release and provider alert. Sixty-three attendees contacted the health department, of whom 30 (48%) sought medical care and 26 (41%) were tested. Specimens from 16 of the 26 (62%) could be forwarded to the Remington Laboratory for confirmatory testing; the remaining 10 (38%) were tested at non-reference laboratories only. Symptom onset ranged from 23 January to 8 February 2024. Among attendees with onset within a biologically plausible interval after the dinners, 15 (24%) were confirmed, 10 (16%) probable, and 16 (25%) suspect; one (2%) had evidence of past infection only. Two raw venison samples were PCR positive for T. gondii, tissue cysts were observed on histopathology, and genotyping identified haplogroup 12, associated with wildlife and more severe human disease. Wild game from donation programs should not enter commercial food service, and at-risk guests should be informed when it is served.Keywords.
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BibTeX
@article{barrett2026toxoplasma,
title = {{Toxoplasma gondii Outbreak Associated With Catered Venison Dinners, Westchester County, New York-January-February 2024.}},
author = {Kelly A Barrett and Amy Robbins and David Nicholas and Kevin Smith and Nicole Benevento and Allison Hopper and Robert Bellach and Ambika Soondar and Sherlita Amler and Valérie Bonetti and Alexander Chen and José G Montoya and Jorge P Rodriguez-Soto and Christelle Pomares and Hélène Yera and Karine Passebosc-Faure and Ada J Huang},
journal = {Open forum infectious diseases},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/ofid/ofag596},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921481},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Toxoplasma gondii Outbreak Associated With Catered Venison Dinners, Westchester County, New York-January-February 2024.
AU - Kelly A Barrett
AU - Amy Robbins
AU - David Nicholas
AU - Kevin Smith
AU - Nicole Benevento
AU - Allison Hopper
AU - Robert Bellach
AU - Ambika Soondar
AU - Sherlita Amler
AU - Valérie Bonetti
AU - Alexander Chen
AU - José G Montoya
AU - Jorge P Rodriguez-Soto
AU - Christelle Pomares
AU - Hélène Yera
AU - Karine Passebosc-Faure
AU - Ada J Huang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - Open forum infectious diseases
DO - 10.1093/ofid/ofag596
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921481
AB - On January 19 and 20, 2024, a caterer in Westchester County, New York, served a seven-course game dinner to approximately 250 guests each evening (500 total). Six courses contained venison from 10 deer harvested in early January through a donation program in another county. All venison courses were reheated on site except the backstrap steaks, which were never frozen and were grilled rare to medium-rare. On February 1, an infectious diseases physician notified the health department of attendees with fever, headache, and myalgia without gastrointestinal symptoms. The caterer and food preparation site were investigated on February 5, and the first positive Toxoplasma gondii serology on February 7 prompted a press release and provider alert. Sixty-three attendees contacted the health department, of whom 30 (48%) sought medical care and 26 (41%) were tested. Specimens from 16 of the 26 (62%) could be forwarded to the Remington Laboratory for confirmatory testing; the remaining 10 (38%) were tested at non-reference laboratories only. Symptom onset ranged from 23 January to 8 February 2024. Among attendees with onset within a biologically plausible interval after the dinners, 15 (24%) were confirmed, 10 (16%) probable, and 16 (25%) suspect; one (2%) had evidence of past infection only. Two raw venison samples were PCR positive for T. gondii, tissue cysts were observed on histopathology, and genotyping identified haplogroup 12, associated with wildlife and more severe human disease. Wild game from donation programs should not enter commercial food service, and at-risk guests should be informed when it is served.Keywords.
SN - 2328-8957
ER -