Raw milk cheese linked to French Yersinia outbreak

More than 130 people are sick in France as part of a Yersinia outbreak linked to a raw milk goat’s cheese brand.

France has 133 cases, while Belgium, Norway, and Luxembourg all have one each in the Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 2, serotype O:9 outbreak.

Etoile de Provence Banon AOP 100-gram with dates up to Aug. 2, 2024, has been recalled from more than 20 countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In France, sick people have isolation dates between Jan. 27 and June 28. Cases are between 3 and 85 years old, with a median of 49, and 76 are women.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region is the most impacted, with 57 patients, but cases have been identified in all regions of mainland France.

The latest onset date among the 57 interviewed ill people is June 10. An unusually high consumption of a type of raw milk goat cheese was observed among cases.

ECDC involvement
Notification of enteric yersiniosis is not mandatory in France, but some medical labs regularly send isolates, clinical, and demographic data to the French Yersinia National Reference Laboratory.

In 2022, there were three confirmed and one suspected Yersinia outbreaks in France, with 1,558 patients recorded.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it is monitoring the event and contacting member states and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

“Given the distribution of the implicated products in several EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, the risk of contracting yersinosis is high among consumers who have bought the implicated products or have been exposed in other settings before control measures have taken effect. New cases may occur in the countries involved, and historical cases may be identified retrospectively,” said ECDC.

“The reported cases may represent a small fraction of all cases due to lack of referred isolates and routine sequencing. As control measures have been implemented in countries, this reduces the risk for further human infections related to this event.”

Symptoms of yersiniosis often develop three to seven days after infection. They include fever, abdominal cramps, watery or bloody diarrhea, headaches, and vomiting. Yersiniosis is typically self-limiting, and symptoms can persist from one to three days up to three weeks.

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