The number of children sick in an outbreak mainly affecting Germany and Austria has increased to almost 100.
The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) reported illnesses were likely caused by an organic cashew butter with raspberries sold at dm drogerie markt. locations.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has identified 85 Salmonella Infantis infections largely among infants and young children. In total, 84 cases are children up to 4 years old and one patient is a 30-year-old woman. It was previously reported that 52 people were sick.
Children seriously ill
Males and females are equally affected with 40 boys and 44 girls ill. Most of the patients are only 1 year old or younger. Cases occurred nationwide with most beginning in April and May.
Overall, 35 children have had to be hospitalized for salmonellosis. Sepsis was diagnosed as a complication in four children and Salmonella was detected in the blood of nine other children but no deaths have been reported.
In Austria, 13 cases have been reported and eight children had to be hospitalized. The majority of patients are children aged between 1 and 3 but they range from under 1 to 69 years old.
Two cases have been reported in Luxembourg with isolates similar to those from Germany. There is one case under investigation in the Czech Republic.
The outbreak was discovered in Germany through increased submissions of Salmonella samples from infants and young children, which were typed as Salmonella Infantis at the National Reference Center for Salmonella and other Bacterial Pathogens at RKI. Integrated Genomic Surveillance (IGS) revealed high genetic similarity between isolates, suggesting a common source of infection.
Positive product testing
Epidemiologists from RKI helped to survey the parents of 28 sick children. This found 27 parents were certain that their child had consumed the cashew butter with raspberries before the onset of illness, usually mixed into their cereal.
Some households still had opened jars of the product. These were confiscated and several samples tested Salmonella positive. Salmonella Infantis was also detected in unopened jars examined after official sampling. Genome sequencing of isolates from food showed a high similarity to isolates from patients.
Food safety authorities are currently investigating how Salmonella entered the production process.
Dm drogerie markt withdrew the product from stores and issued a recall in May. It affects dmBio Cashewmus Himbeere 250-gram with shelf life dates up to and including April 28, 2026.
According to a notice on the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal, it was also distributed to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here)
Source link
