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Salmonella Outbreak in Europe/ Source, Sicilian Tomatoes

2025-10-24 18:03:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Salmonella Outbreak in Europe/ Source, Sicilian Tomatoes

Health officials believe cherry tomatoes from the Mediterranean island are the vehicle of infection in the years-long salmonella outbreak.

Hundreds of people across Europe have fallen ill from food poisoning over the past two years, and Sicilian tomatoes are the main suspect, according to health officials.

As of late September, there have been 510 confirmed cases of a specific type of Salmonella bacteria in 18 European countries since 2023, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Salmonella is one of the most common types of food poisoning, causing stomach pain, diarrhea, and fever.

The ECDC believes cherry tomatoes from the Mediterranean island of Sicily are the main food source driving the outbreak, which is linked to a strain of bacteria known as Salmonella Strathcona.

During the multi-year outbreak, Italy has reported the most cases (123), followed by Germany (113), Austria (76), the United Kingdom (73) and France (43).

Thirteen other European countries - Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden - have reported fewer than 15 cases each.

The outbreak has also crossed the Atlantic, with the United States recording 24 cases and Canada 10.

It is not the first time that Sicilian tomatoes have been identified as a cause of food poisoning with this strain of Salmonella. They were linked to an outbreak in Denmark in 2011, the ECDC said.

The agency called for more investigations to confirm that Sicilian tomatoes are indeed the vehicle of infection in the outbreak and said more needs to be done to promote stricter bacterial control during the tomato harvest season./ CNA





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