Well being officers have been unable to seek out the supply of a Salmonella outbreak that affected virtually 30 folks in Eire and England.
The outbreak, which noticed 11 folks hospitalized, has been declared over by authorities.
Symptom onset ranged between Nov. 30, 2022, and Jan. 13, 2023, peaking on Dec. 7. Sufferers lived in a number of areas on the island of Eire. Fourteen sufferers have been male and 13 have been feminine. Most have been adults, starting from 25 to 91 years outdated, and two have been below the age of 18. The median age of instances was 57 years outdated.
The Well being Safety Surveillance Centre (HPSC) began an outbreak investigation in late December after seven Salmonella Typhimurium isolates have been seen to kind a cluster by Entire Genome Sequencing (WGS).
They have been associated to 2 earlier Salmonella Typhimurium isolates sequenced in October 2020 and December 2021 and a few have been recognized in different European international locations since 2020. Nonetheless, the supply was not discovered for these previous infections.
One other 13 isolates have been added to the cluster following additional evaluation in January 2023. Entire genome sequencing by the UK Well being Safety Company (UKHSA) recognized a further seven sufferers who lived in Northern Eire and England.
In whole, 27 sufferers, recognized between December 2022 and January 2023, who lived in or visited the island of Eire have been a part of the outbreak.
No connection to rooster recollects or broiler flock
An outbreak management workforce, chaired by HPSC, was arrange in January 2023. It additionally included representatives from departments of public well being, the HSE Environmental Well being Service, the Meals Security Authority of Eire (FSAI), the HSC Public Well being Company of Northern Eire and the Meals Requirements Company in Northern Eire.
The group met 4 occasions throughout January and February. Enhanced surveillance types and trawling questionnaires have been used to find out meals and environmental histories for all instances however no frequent exposures have been recognized. Meals enterprise provider lists have been additionally examined however no commonalities have been discovered.
In January and February 2023, there have been rooster recollects due to Salmonella. Western Model recalled varied uncooked rooster merchandise with the attainable presence of Salmonella Typhimurium.
The Division of Agriculture, Meals and the Marine additionally investigated the findings of Salmonella Typhimurium in a number of broiler flocks.
Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a microbiological proof of a hyperlink between the outbreak of salmonellosis and the product recall or constructive poultry flocks.
In late 2022, the FSAI checked the microbiological high quality of chilled and frozen coated poultry meat preparations and meat merchandise supposed to be eaten cooked, testing for Salmonella.
HPSC knowledge exhibits there have been 59 salmonellosis instances from the beginning of 2023 till the top of February, in contrast with 29 in the identical interval in 2022.
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