24 September 2010
Duck eggs and duck products have been implicated in a national outbreak of salmonella food poisoning which, the Health Protection Agency says, has led to the hospitalisation of two people and the death of one.
The outbreak involves the serotype Salmonella typhimurium DT8, a strain which is often associated with ducks.
According to the HPA, there have been 63 reports of human infection in England and Northern Ireland this year, compared with 47 in 2009 and 34 in 2008.
It became clear from HPA investigations that the increase was related to the consumption of duck products, mainly eggs.
The cases are related to commercial flocks of ducks, not backyard flocks.