Guests who shared a potato salad begin vomiting about three hours after the meal. What does that short onset time suggest to the manager?
a.A preformed toxin, such as Staphylococcus aureus
b.A parasite, such as Cryptosporidium in the water
c.A slow-growing infection, such as Listeria in a deli
d.A viral infection, such as hepatitis A from a worker
Explanation
An intoxication makes people sick quickly, often within one to six hours, because the toxin is already in the food when it is eaten. Infections need time for the organism to multiply in the body: hepatitis A takes weeks, Listeria can take days, and parasites are slower still, so a three-hour onset points to a toxin.
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