10 February 2020
A joint rapid risk assessment by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reveals that a multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis linked to table eggs remains active and persistent across Europe, defying multi-year eradication and sanitation efforts.
Since joint European surveillance initiated in 2016, public health agencies have tracked a prolonged, multi-country outbreak traced back to commercial laying hen farms in Poland. To decipher the epidemiological network and pin down contamination sources, ECDC and EFSA researchers leveraged Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing. This genomic approach delineated the outbreak into four closely related genetic clusters.
Between February 1, 2017, and January 14, 2020, a total of 656 confirmed and 202 probable cases were documented across 18 EU/EEA countries. Hospitalization status was available for 427 patients across 12 countries, with approximately one-third requiring inpatient hospital care, and two deaths reported. Trace-back investigations linked the vast majority of cases to 16 Polish laying hen farms, 13 of which belong to a single agricultural entity ("Consortium A"). Despite aggressive control protocols implemented in 2016–2017, official testing in 2018–2019 repeatedly detected the representative outbreak strains within the same premises.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to eggs, third update – 6 February 2020. EFSA Supporting Publications, 2020; 17(2): EN-1799.