A national outbreak of salmonella that has so far affected 156 people may have come from a single source, Public Health England has said.
Cases of salmonella enteritidis had been found in a range of locations across the country, PHE testing has revealed, with 55 cases reported in Hampshire, 33 in Cheshire and 43 in the West Midlands, in addition to the presence of the bacteria in Austria and France.
Genetic typing had revealed that all of the cases were infected with closely related strains, indicating the cause of the illness was from a single source, said Dr Paul Cleary, a consultant epidemiologist leading the PHE investigation.
The English outbreaks had initially been treated as isolated clusters over the course of several months, but PHE was now reassessing potential links under a national investigation.
“We are working with our colleagues across PHE, at the Food Standards Agency, in local authorities and with other public health organisations in Europe to investigate the cause of this outbreak,” said Cleary, adding it hoped to have more conclusive evidence shortly.
”The FSA is working with PHE, local authorities, the European Commission and other member states to try to establish the source of this outbreak,” said an FSA spokeswoman. “We are also asking all UK local authorities to be vigilant with any cases of illness that appear in their areas and report them immediately to us.”
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