Abstract
We report an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis phage type 14b (PT14b) in the United Kingdom (UK) between May and September 2014 where Public Health England launched an investigation to identify the source of infection and implement control measures. During the same period, outbreaks caused by a Salmonella Enteritidis strain with a specific multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) profile occurred in other European Union Member States. Isolates from a number of persons affected by the UK outbreak, who had initially been tested by MLVA also shared this particular profile. Cases were defined as any person infected with S. Enteritidis PT14b, resident in England or Wales and without history of travel outside of this geographical area during the incubation period, reported from 1 June 2014 onwards, with a MLVA profile of 2–11–9-7–4-3–2-8–9 or a single locus variant thereof. In total, 287 cases met the definition. Food traceback investigations in the UK and other affected European countries linked the outbreaks to chicken eggs from a German company. We undertook whole genome sequencing of isolates from UK and European cases, implicated UK premises, and German eggs: isolates were highly similar. Combined with food traceback information, this confirmed that the UK outbreak was also linked to a German producer.
Highlights
The adoption of vaccination and other measures in management of poultry production has led to a reduction in the number of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis infections in the United Kingdom (UK) [1,2]
Public Health England (PHE) was alerted through the Epidemic Intelligence Information System (EPIS) to six Salmonella outbreaks in France associated with eggs from a German producer and an Austrian Salmonella outbreak, both countries reporting matching multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) profiles of 2–11–9-7–4-3– 2-8–9 [6]
We present whole genome sequencing (WGS) data which provide a clear link between isolates from humans, eggs and environmental samples from premises associated with clusters of cases in an outbreak affecting several European Union (EU) Member States
Summary
The adoption of vaccination and other measures in management of poultry production has led to a reduction in the number of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis infections in the United Kingdom (UK) [1,2]. Despite this reduction, there have been several outbreaks of. Enteritidis PT14b cases in England and Wales (Figure 1), some of whom reported the same MLVA profile, PHE launched a national investigation; the first national outbreak control team meeting was held on 6 August 2014. The investigation was undertaken to identify the source of infection and implement control measures to prevent further cases
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