Salami from Italy sickens 17 in Sweden
Livsmedelsverket (National Food Agency) said the first Salmonella illness was reported at the end of November last year and the latest in early January so the outbreak is likely over.
The ill people range in age from one to 76 with slightly more women then men infected.
Cases are in five counties but most are from Stockholm County.
Salmonella in open package
Analysis found a sample of an opened package of the brand Salametto Tartufo from the home of one of the cases was positive for Salmonella. It is not known where or how contamination occurred.
“According to interviews performed by the County Medical Officer in Stockholm County, all cases have eaten truffle salami from the same store in Stockholm,” said Mats Lindblad of Livsmedelsverket.
“The batch was produced in Italy and only distributed to the store in Stockholm (the store has special demands on the flavouring of the product - a bit more taste of truffle than standard).”
The Italian company involved was Salamificio Aliprandi S.P.A. and the store and importer in Stockholm was Eric Österqvist AB.
Salami and Salmonella
The outbreak strain was Monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium with multi locus variable number of tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) profile 3-10-10-N-211.
Monophasic S. Typhimurium is one of the most common serotypes representing about one fifth of the 2,200 reported cases in Sweden in 2016.
In Sweden, there have been five RASFF notifications from 2016 – 2018 on Salmonella and salami.
Authorities investigated an outbreak of S. Typhimurium (MLVA 3-19-11-N-311) linked to salami from Spain last year.
The profile had not been seen before in the country and it sickened 57 people.
In 2016, Salmonella infected 39 people with a link to sausage.
