Outbreak of salmonella

Hamburgers

The Public Health Institute (FHI) has detected outbreaks of the gastrointestinal bacteria Salmonella Enteritidis in 16 people resident throughout the country.

Salmonella bacteria with similar DNA profiles have been detected in samples taken between the end of July and the beginning of September. Now FHI, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Veterinary Institute are working on an inverstigation to determine if patients can have a common source of infection.

Ten women and six men are infected with the bacterium. Patients are from 1 to 74 years old, living in Oslo, Nordland, Troms, Finnmark, Rogaland, Vest-Agder, Trøndelag, Sogn and Fjordane and Oppland.

This is the first time there has been an outbreak of this strain of Salmonella Enteritidis in Norway. It differs from the  strain that was detected in several European countries in 2016 and 2017. At that time, the outbreak was linked to eggs from Poland.

The most common symptoms of salmonellosis are diarrhea, headache, abdominal pain, nausea and fever. Salmonella bacteria mainly spread via contaminate food, usually through meat products, but also through eggs, milk, shellfish, vegetables and spices.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today