since the identification of the first cases in the UK in February 2022.
In addition, the Salmonella strain demonstrated genotypic markers of an unusual antimicrobial resistance pattern not related to any other UK strains of monophasic S. Typhimurium and not commonly seen in livestock, food, or human disease cases in the UK.
Chocolate Products and European Outbreak
The outbreak had resulted in 42% of hospitalization rate higher than that usually reported in salmonellosis outbreaks and for individual cases of infection with S. Typhimurium, indicating the increased clinical severity of the infection.
Upon further epidemiological investigation, the outbreak strain had been identified predominantly at a single production site in Belgium and in the processing equipment for the buttermilk ingredient, following which news alerts were notified to various countries.
These data provide microbiological confirmation of the link between the company’s products and the Europe-wide outbreak.
Moreover, the heightened risk of multidrug resistance to the strain enforced the public health and food safety authorities to undertake the necessary controls swiftly.
Source: Medindia
