An outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis Phage Type (PT) 14b that affected 262 people in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man since the beginning of April this year has been declared over. The majority of the cases were in North West England (111), the West Midlands (38), Yorkshire and Humberside (36) and the East Midlands (31). image expired

Following a multi-agency investigation in the UK and Spain, the source of infection was traced to eggs that had been distributed from a specific shed on one farm in Spain. The shed has since been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, eggs were destroyed or heat-treated and a flock of hens was culled to eliminate the risk.

Dr. Joe Kearney, an HPA director who chaired the outbreak control team that comprised the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Environmental Health Officers from a number of local authorities, said:

“This was a detailed and thorough investigation by a number of agencies. We had full co-operation from the Spanish Authorities who took prompt action to eliminate the risk once the situation had been reported to them.

“No eggs with the implicated egg stamp number were distributed to the UK after the end of June. Our colleagues at the FSA alerted Environmental Health Officers throughout England and Wales to the situation and checks were made on the distribution chain. Whenever eggs with the implicated egg stamp number were found in the system, these were removed from sale.”

The number of new cases of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 14b reported to the HPA has dropped to the usual background levels, which indicates that the measures taken by the outbreak control team partners and the Spanish authorities were effective.