Since mid-March, 40 patients have been registered ill with the same type of salmonella. These are 24 men and 16 women aged 0-83. The first investigations show that the patients have not been travelling, have not eaten at the same restaurants and have not taken part in any joint events. As the patients live throughout the country, it therefore suggests that it is a food that has been sold in supermarkets across the country.
“We are working to find out what is to blame for the outbreak. Preliminary investigations indicate that the source of infection could be minced meat sold in supermarkets,” says epidemiologist Luise Müller, Statens Serum Institut.
Annette Perge from the Danish Food and Drug Administration elaborates:
“Although we do not yet know for sure what has made people sick with salmonella, we would like consumers to pay extra attention to good kitchen hygiene. It is important to cook the minced meat thoroughly, keep the ready-to-eat separate from the raw meat and refrain from tasting the raw meat,” she says.
All patients are infected with the same type of salmonella bacteria.
“Salmonella of the type Typhimurium has previously been found in meat from cattle and pigs as well as in foreign poultry products and has previously given rise to disease outbreaks,” says senior researcher Marianne Sandberg from the DTU Food Institute.
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