Investigation of an international outbreak of multidrug-resistant monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium associated with chocolate products, EU/EEA and United Kingdom, February to April 2022

Lesley Larkin (1) , Maria Pardos de la Gandara (2, 3) , Ann Hoban (1) , Caisey Pulford (1) , Nathalie Jourdan-da Silva (4) , Henriette de Valk (4) , Lynda Browning (5) , Gerhard Falkenhorst (6) , Sandra Simon (7) , Raskit Lachmann (6) , Rikard Dryselius (8) , Nadja Karamehmedovic (8) , Stefan Börjesson (8) , Dieter van Cauteren (9) , Valeska Laisnez (9, 10) , Wesley Mattheus (9) , Roan Pijnacker (11) , Maaike van den Beld (11) , Joël Mossong (12) , Catherine Ragimbeau (12) , Anne Vergison (12) , Lin Thorstensen Brandal (13) , Heidi Lange (13) , Patricia Garvey (14) , Charlotte Salgaard Nielsen (14, 10) , Silvia Herrera León (15) , Carmen Varela (15) , Marie Chattaway (1) , François-Xavier Weill (2, 3) , Derek Brown (16) , Paul Mckeown (14)

1 UKHSA - UK Health Security Agency
2 BPE - Bactéries pathogènes entériques
3 CNR-ESS - Centre National de Référence - National Reference Center Escherichia coli, Shigella et Salmonella
4 Santé publique France - French National Public Health Agency [Saint-Maurice, France]
5 Public Health Scotland [Glasgow]
6 RKI - Robert Koch Institute [Berlin]
7 Robert Koch Institute [Wernigerode]
8 Public Health Agency of Sweden
9 Sciensano [Bruxelles]
10 ECDC - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
11 RIVM - National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [Bilthoven]
12 LNS - Laboratoire National de Santé [Luxembourg]
13 NIPH - Norwegian Institute of Public Health [Oslo]
14 HPSC - Health Protection Surveillance Centre
15 ISC - Instituto de Salud Carlos III [Madrid]
16 Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratories

An extensive multi-country outbreak of multidrug-resistant monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium infection in 10 countries with 150 reported cases, predominantly affecting young children, has been linked to chocolate products produced by a large multinational company. Extensive withdrawals and recalls of multiple product lines have been undertaken. With Easter approaching, widespread product distribution and the vulnerability of the affected population, early and effective real-time sharing of microbiological and epidemiological information has been of critical importance in effectively managing this serious food-borne incident.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Food and Nutrition

Lesley Larkin, Maria Pardos de la Gandara, Ann Hoban, Caisey Pulford, Nathalie Jourdan-da Silva, et al.. Investigation of an international outbreak of multidrug-resistant monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium associated with chocolate products, EU/EEA and United Kingdom, February to April 2022. Eurosurveillance, 2022, 27 (15), pp.2200314. ⟨10.2807/1560-7917.es.2022.27.15.2200314⟩. ⟨pasteur-03694284⟩