Outbreak of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in Switzerland, May – June 2008, implications for production and control of meat preparations

H Schmid; H Hächler; R Stephan; A Baumgartner; K Boubaker

doi:10.2807/ese.13.44.19020-en

Rapid communications Open Access

Like 0

Download

Outbreak of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in Switzerland, May – June 2008, implications for production and control of meat preparations
H Schmid¹ , H Hächler² , R Stephan³ , A Baumgartner⁴ , K Boubaker¹
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

Affiliations: ¹ Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), Division of Communicable Diseases, Bern, Switzerland ² National Centre for Enteropathogenic Bacteria (NENT), Lucerne, Switzerland ³ Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Switzerland ⁴ Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), Food Safety Division, Bern, Switzerland

Correspondence:
H Schmid
hans.schmid bag.admin.ch
View Citation Hide Citation

Citation style for this article: Schmid H, Hächler H, Stephan R, Baumgartner A, Boubaker K. Outbreak of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in Switzerland, May – June 2008, implications for production and control of meat preparations. Euro Surveill. 2008;13(44):pii=19020. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.13.44.19020-en Received: 10 Oct 2008

Abstract

An increased number of Salmonella Typhimurium cases were reported in Switzerland between May and June 2008. Investigations involved 72 cases. Results of PFGE typing identified several outbreak strains, the dominating one present in 43 of the 72 isolates. Strains affecting one third of the cases were also found in animal samples, in particular pork. However, no specific food source could be identified. Outbreaks described in this paper highlight the importance of food safety regulations such as those on minced meat and meat preparations issued by the European Commission and adopted by Switzerland into the national law.