The Boston Globe recaps the salmonella outbreak that killed two and sickened 75 others linked to DeFusco’s Bakery in Rhode Island in March.

State inspectors found a host of health violations at the bakery, from gallons of pastry cream left unrefrigerated for hours to pastry shells stored in egg crates tainted with salmonella bacteria. It was most likely the shells, which had come into contact with the salmonella-infected eggs, that ignited the outbreak, disease detectives said. The state issued an immediate recall of the bakery’s goods, and the shop agreed to close its two locations immediately.

“These were gross health violations, literally and figuratively,’’ said Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Health.

In mid-April, the state ordered the bakery to remain closed until the violations are fixed. The bakery’s phone number has been temporarily disconnected, and the bakery’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.

The outbreak was discovered March 25 when a nursing home in Warwick reported that 15 residents and two staff members had fallen ill. Investigators discovered that all had eaten zeppole from DeFusco’s to commemorate St. Joseph’s Day, and the store owners closed the bakery the same day.

Over the next week, the state received dozens of similar reports of salmonella symptoms, and all but one person had eaten zeppole from DeFusco’s, which supplied the pastries to other bakeries and catered events for the holiday. DeFusco’s also had a retail store in Cranston, but health officials said the contaminated pastries all came from the Johnston store.

Unannounced state inspections before the outbreak, including one in December, did not find serious violations, Beardsworth said. But the most recent review, conducted March 25, found nine. The hand sink in the bathroom did not have running water, and employees reported washing their hands in a three-bay sink without soap or paper towels. The staff failed to sanitize equipment and utensils after washing them, and left calzones filled with deli meats and cheeses unrefrigerated.

Even worse, Beardsworth said, pastry cream filling used for the zeppole and eclairs was tested at a temperature of 125 degrees. “That’s a breeding ground for bacteria,’’ she said.