Groceries
Over 300 cases of salmonella linked to chicken meat
Salmonella on a nutrient agar. photo
© Arno Burgi/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
The EU health authority ECDC warns about chicken meat contaminated with salmonella in several European countries and the USA. If left untreated, an infection can be life-threatening.
A salmonella outbreak linked to chicken meat has now spread to 16 countries. As the EU health authority ECDC announced, 335 confirmed cases were reported from 15 European countries and the USA from January to October 24th. Chicken meat, which was used, among other things, in kebabs, is considered the likely source of the outbreak, which includes three different groups of Salmonella Enteritidis ST11, the Stockholm-based authority wrote in a joint assessment with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). It is expected that there will be further cases.
Bacteria similar to those that caused the outbreak were discovered in samples of chicken meat and chicken kebab, the pair said EU authorities. Traceability of the food indicated seven final producers in Poland and one in Austria, but no microbiological evidence of contamination was found in their production facilities.
In Germany this year there were a total of 18 cases in this context, according to the assessment. According to the information, nine sick people in three countries had to be treated in hospital, and one person died as a result of the illness in Austria.