Outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis linked to the consumption of frozen beefburgers received from a food bank and originating from Poland: northern France, December 2014 to April 2015.

A prolonged outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis occurred in northern France between December 2014 and April 2015. Epidemiological investigations following the initial notification on 30 December 2014 of five cases of salmonellosis (two confirmed S. Enteritidis) in young children residing in the Somme department revealed that all cases frequented the same food bank A. Further epidemiological, microbiological and food trace-back investigations indicated frozen beefburgers as the source of the outbreak and the suspected lot originating from Poland was recalled on 22 January 2015. On 2 March 2015 a second notification of S. Enteritidis cases in the Somme reinitiated investigations that confirmed a link with food bank A and with consumption of frozen beefburgers from the same Polish producer. In the face of a possible persistent source of contamination, all frozen beefburgers distributed by food bank A and from the same origin were blocked on 3 March 2015. Microbiological analyses confirmed contamination by S. Enteritidis of frozen beefburgers from a second lot remaining in cases' homes. A second recall was initiated on 6 March 2015 and all frozen beefburgers from the Polish producer remain blocked after analyses identified additional contaminated lots over several months of production.

Outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Montevideo infections in France linked to consumption of cheese made from raw milk.

In 2006, an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Montevideo infections occurred in France. A matched case-control study and microbiological, environmental, and veterinary investigations were conducted to determine the source of this outbreak. A case was defined as a resident of France in whom Salmonella Montevideo was isolated from a stool or blood specimen between October 16, 2006, and January 6, 2007. Patients were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire. Salmonella Montevideo food isolates collected in 2006 by the nonhuman Salmonella surveillance system were reviewed, and a trace-back investigation was carried out. Salmonella strains isolated in case-patients and in suspected food were subtyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Twenty-three cases were identified. Ten (63%) of the 16 interviewed cases against only 11 (35%) of the 31 controls reported eating a soft cheese made with raw milk from cows. Contaminated cheese was traced to a single processing plant that had faced an episode of Salmonella Montevideo contamination in September-October 2006. At that time, the distribution of batches of cheese found contaminated by Salmonella Montevideo was blocked. Microbiological investigation indicated that 70% (16/23) of strains isolated from case-patients and 93% (28/30) of strains isolated from cheese produced by the incriminated plant shared indistinguishable PFGE patterns. Comparing the onset of illness of cases and cheese production time in the incriminated plant, we concluded that this Salmonella outbreak was caused by raw-milk cheese in which low-level contamination had gone undetected.