The authors describe an epidemic of salmonellosis in 27 players and officials of the first league hockey team HC Kometa Brno which developed in conjunction with the consumption of a lunch in the facilities where the team usually takes its meals before competitions. The disease affected without exception all participants of the lunch, had a very severe course with high temperatures, weakness and intense diarrhoea sometimes with vomiting. The disease persisted for 3–6 days, the loss of body weight caused mainly by dehydration was 4 to 13 kg. Faeces samples (3) of all affected patients were during the acute stage of the disease bacteriologically positive. Spontaneous debaci- lization took with a single exception 2–4 weeks. The disease was caused by Salmonella enteritidis, phagotype 8. The source was not detected and the vehicle was most probably secondarily contami- nated soup.

        Key words: salmonellosis – epidemic.