Salmonella Virchow outbreak linked to restaurants serving kebab meat
Since June 2017, a persistent cross-border outbreak of Salmonella Virchow ST16 has been ongoing in five European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States, according to a Rapid Outbreak Assessment released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) today. A majority of cases have been linked to local restaurants serving kebab meat.
A total of 210 cases have been reported from the following countries: Denmark (2), France (111), Germany (26), Ireland (4), the Netherlands (34), the UK (32), and the US (1).
The available information from case interviews, traceback investigations, and whole genome sequencing (WGS) cluster analysis, showed that kebab meat products containing contaminated chicken meat are the likely vehicles of infections, and that the clone has been circulating in the EU poultry meat production chain at least in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In the absence of batch numbers of the contaminated kebab products and related Salmonella testing information, the source(s) of the infections could not be established.
Johanna Takkinen, ECDC principal expert on food- and waterborne diseases, said:
“ECDC encourages countries to sequence S. Virchow isolates from domestically acquired human infections and interview cases with S. Virchow ST16 infections. Investigations should be focused on the consumption of poultry meat and related products and be carried out in close collaboration with food safety authorities. ECDC can support countries with the sequencing of isolates.”
Among the interviewed cases (55), hospitalisation rates ranged from 16.7% (2/12) in the UK, to 29.4% (5/17) and 38.5% (10/26) in France and Germany, respectively. No deaths have been reported. The number of confirmed cases represents only a small proportion of all infections in the EU/EEA, partly due to the varying sequencing capacities of countries.
New infections are likely to occur in the EU/EEA affecting any age group, until further investigations are performed to identify the source(s) and point(s) of contamination along the chicken meat production chain, including the primary production upstream lines. This will allow appropriate control measures to be implemented.
Number of cases
| Country | Total number of confirmed cases | Male | Female | Age range (median) years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 2 | 2 | 0 | 46 - 52 (49) |
| France | 111 | 60 | 51 | <1 - 80 (22) |
| Germany | 26 | 18 | 8 | 1 - 76 (28) |
| Ireland | 4 | 1 | 3 | 55 - 84 (80) |
| Netherlands | 34 | 18 | 16 | <1 - 92 (46) |
| Total EU/EEA | 177 | 99 | 78 | |
| United Kingdom | 32 | 15 | 17 | <1 - 81 (26) |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 1 | > 25 |
| Total | 210 | 114 | 96 |
Read the assessment
Scientific and technical publications
Multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Virchow ST16 infections linked to the consumption of meat products containing chicken meat
Since June 2017, a cross-border outbreak of Salmonella Virchow ST16 has been ongoing in five EU/EEA countries, the UK, and the US. A total of 210 cases have been reported. No deaths have been reported. A majority of cases have been linked to local restaurants serving kebab meat.
