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Salmonella outbreak in England under investigation | Salmonella outbreak in England under investigation |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Health authorities are investigating a national outbreak of salmonella that has struck 156 people, mostly in Hampshire. | |
Public Health England said there have been 55 cases of salmonella enteritidis in Hampshire, 25 in London, 33 in Cheshire and 43 in the West Midlands. Cases have also been seen in Austria and France. In the case of Hampshire, 32 of the cases were linked to The Real China restaurant in Eastleigh, which voluntary closed last month. It has since reopened. | |
In Cheshire and Merseyside, 31 cases were connected with an outbreak at a Chinese takeaway. Of the 43 cases in the West Midlands, 34 were connected with the Birmingham Heartlands hospital outbreak, which led to the closure of eight wards. | |
The cases occurred as isolated clusters over several months and were dealt with locally. They are now being reassessed under a national investigation as being potentially linked, said PHE. | |
"We are working with our colleagues across PHE, at the Food Standards Agency, in local authorities and with other public health organisations in Europe to investigate the cause of this outbreak," said Dr Paul Cleary, a consultant epidemiologist leading the PHE investigation. "We are making good progress and hope to have more conclusive evidence shortly." | |
PHE said genetic testing methods revealed that all of the cases are infected with closely related strains, indicating that the cause of the illness is from a single sourceA health official said it was too early to specify this source.Some food and environmental samples from catering outlets have tested positive for salmonella with the same genetic profile as seen in the outbreak cases, said PHE. | |
In France, 49 people have been affected. | |
Salmonella enteritidis is a strain of bacteria that causes gastrointestinal illness and is often associated with poultry or eggs. Symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever. Most people recover without treatment, although it is important to drink lots of water. | |
In March last year, 400 people fell ill from a salmonella outbreak associated with the Street Spice festival, held in Newcastle between 28 February and 2 March. Health experts said it was caused by uncooked curry leaves. | |
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