Salmonella infections return to pre-pandemic levels in England

The number of Salmonella cases in England has returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and 11 outbreaks were reported in 2022.

Salmonella Enteritidis went back to being the most frequently reported serovar and Salmonella Typhimurium infections also increased, said the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

In 2022, there were 8,125 Salmonella cases in England, compared to 5,033 in 2021, 4,712 in 2020 and 8,398 in 2019.

Salmonella Enteritidis reports jumped from 747 in 2021 to 2,044 in 2022. Salmonella Typhimurium infections rose from 1,219 in 2021 to 1,731 in 2022. Salmonella Infantis was in third place with 310 reports, followed by Salmonella Newport, Mbandaka, Agona, and Virchow.

Data comes from the Second Generation Surveillance System (SGSS) and the Gastrointestinal Infections and Food Safety (One Health) (GIFSOH) division’s eFOSS (electronic foodborne and non-foodborne outbreak surveillance system).

The age group with the most laboratory reports was children younger than the age of 10. This category, accounted for 26 percent of lab reports. Patients were split equally between males and females.

London had the highest number of Salmonella lab reports with 1,631 and was the region with the highest rate with 18.4 reports per 100,000 population. The North East had the lowest number of Salmonella reports with 408 but the East Midlands had the lowest reporting rate at 11.5 per 100,000 population.

In 2022 across 30 countries in Europe and the European Economic Area (EEA), more than 66,700 Salmonella cases were recorded with 81 deaths. France, Germany and Spain reported more cases than England.

Outbreak details
Eleven outbreaks were recorded in England in 2022 with 591 patients and four were caused by Salmonella Typhimurium.

The largest affected 133 people in England with 26 hospitalized. This was caused by contaminated Ferrero Kinder chocolate. Another outbreak with 91 cases was linked to meat products. A ready meal contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium sickened 24 people with two deaths. Five people fell ill after drinking raw milk at a farm.

Two Salmonella Infantis outbreaks were linked to chicken. The first affected 50 people and the second had 58 cases.

One person died and 10 were hospitalized in a Salmonella Mbandaka outbreak with 112 cases caused by chicken.

A Salmonella Gueuletapee outbreak with 47 patients was linked to kebab meat and a Salmonella Agona outbreak with 16 patients was caused by cucumbers.

Fresh coriander served at a restaurant sickened 33 people with four hospitalized because of Salmonella Java. The source of another Salmonella outbreak that affected 22 people was not found.

Some of these outbreaks also involved other countries. The Salmonella Typhimurium chocolate outbreak had 455 lab confirmed cases in 17 countries.

As of March 2024, the Salmonella Mbandaka outbreak had sickened at least 300 people in seven countries, including 173 in the UK. The outbreak strain was found in frozen chicken breast fillets produced in Ukraine.

The Salmonella Agona incident affected more than 100 people in three European countries. Cucumbers from Spain were the suspected source.

The UK was also involved in a Salmonella Virchow outbreak caused by chicken kebab meat and a Salmonella Senftenberg outbreak linked to cherry-like tomatoes.

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