Health officials were unable to locate the source of salmonella, which affected about 30 people in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The outbreak, which has hospitalized 11 people, has been declared over by authorities.
The onset of symptoms ranged from 30 November 2022 to 13 January 2023, peaking on 7 December. Patients lived in multiple areas of the island of Ireland. 14 patients were male and 13 were female. Most were adults between the ages of his 25 and her 91, and two he was under the age of 18. The median age of cases he was 57 years.
The Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) began investigating the outbreak in late December after whole genome sequencing (WGS) confirmed a cluster of seven Salmonella typhimurium isolates.
They are related to two previous S. typhimurium isolates sequenced in October 2020 and December 2021, and some have been identified in other European countries since 2020. However, no source of infection for these past infections was found.
After further analysis in January 2023, 13 additional isolates were added to the cluster. Whole-genome sequencing by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified seven additional cases living in Northern Ireland and England.
In total, 27 confirmed cases who lived in or visited Ireland between December 2022 and January 2023 were part of the outbreak.
Not related to chicken recalls or broiler flocks
In January 2023, an outbreak control team was established chaired by the HPSC. The team also included representatives from the Department of Public Health, HSE Environmental Health Service, Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and HSC Public Health in Northern Ireland. and Northern Ireland Food Standards Agency.
The group met four times in January and February. Enhanced surveillance forms and troll survey questionnaires were used to identify the food and environmental histories of all cases, but no common exposures were identified. but I couldn’t find anything in common.
In January and February 2023, there was a chicken recall due to salmonella. Western Brand has recalled various raw poultry products that may contain Salmonella typhimurium.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries also investigated the findings of Salmonella typhimurium in some broiler flocks.
However, there is no microbiological evidence of an association between salmonellosis outbreaks and product recalls or positive poultry flocks.
In late 2022, the FSAI checked chilled and frozen coated poultry meat preparations and meat products intended to be cooked and eaten for microbiological quality and tested for Salmonella.
HPSC data show that there were 59 cases of salmonellosis from the beginning of 2023 to the end of February, compared with 29 for the same period in 2022.
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