[General practice of salmonella control from the viewpoint of the public health office--a report of experiences from Cottbus and the Brandenburg area].

: Internationally, an enhanced incidence of the PT4 plasmid is seen in S. enteritidis. Parallel to this, the incidence is also increasing in the new German Land of Brandenburg. The Federal law governing the control of epidemics--which is now also valid in Brandenburg due to the reunification of Germany--demands that strict controls are enforced wherever there are institutions for children, including controls of the environment of such institutions. As a result of this enforcement, it was possible to identify 947 salmonella infections in the Cottbus district in 1992, 82.15% of which were due to S. enteritidis with identification of PT4 plasmid. The question is now raised as to whether the high infectious dose of S. enteritidis with PT4 plasmid still applies and whether the prescribed antiepidemic measures are still necessary in respect of assuming--as the law demands--that strains with PT4 plasmids are to be considered equal in respect of all other salmonella serovars. More than 1000 children under 2 years of age are being cared for in the kindergartens and creches of Cottbus who would be particularly exposed to infections not transmitted by food intake alone. But there is a shortage of funds which is a serious obstacle to antiepidemic measures. A note of warning is sounded against restricting investigations to food intake only. Particular attention is drawn to the crying need for more research, for interdisciplinary cooperation and stricter measures to fight infection.