• An outbreak of Salmonella Schwarzengrund in England and Wales November 2006 to February 2007
  

• Consultation on proposals for the development of a national network for the delivery of food, water and environmental microbiology services
  

 

An outbreak of Salmonella Schwarzengrund in England and Wales November 2006 to February 2007

Since 6 November 2006, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) Centre for Infections (CfI) has confirmed 98 isolates of fully sensitive Salmonella Schwarzengrund compared to 20 in the same time period in 2005/6 (figure 1) [1] .

Figure 1 Epidemic curve of primary cases (n=46)

 

 

All cases were followed up to obtain basic epidemiological information . Two reported foreign travel, one was asymptomatic, and one was a secondary case leaving 94 primary indigenous cases. Of these 94 cases, 81 shared the pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profile SSZGXB.0008. For the outbreak, a case was defined as a resident of England and Wales with a confirmed, fully sensitive
S. Schwarzengrund infection with the PFGE profile SSZGXB.0008 reported on or after 6 November 2006 (figure 2). Patients who reported foreign travel or contact with a person with gastrointestinal symptoms in the five days preceding onset were excluded from this definition. The median age of cases was 52 years (range 0 to 96 years).Forty-seven cases were female and 34 were male. Twelve cases were hospitalised and one is known to have died, although, the salmonella infection was only recorded as a secondary cause of death.

Figure 2 Geographic distribution of cases of S. Schwarzengrund infection as of 1 February 2007 by case location (n=74)

Detailed food histories were obtained from eighteen cases in order to develop a hypothesis for the route of infection. Cases frequently reported consumption or handling of poultry, or consumption of cheese. Further examination of these factors failed to identify a particular brand, retailer, or product. Poultry and cheese are commonly eaten foods and combined with the fact that transmission appears to have ceased at the beginning of February 2007, makes an analytical study impractical. The PFGE profile prevalent during this increase was indistinguishable from that of a strain of
S. Schwarzengrund that caused an outbreak in Scotland between October and December 2006 [2].

References
1. HPA. National increase in fully sensitive Salmonella Schwarzengrund infections in England and Scotland. Health Protection Report [serial online] 2007 [accessed 14 March 2007]; 1(4): news. Available at <http://www.hpa.org.uk/hpr/archives/2007/hpr0407.pdf>.

2. Health Protection Scotland. Increase in cases of Salmonella Schwarzengrund.HPS eWeekly Report. [serial online] 2007 [accessed 15 March 2007] ; 41(3). Available at
<http://www.documents.hps.scot.nhs.uk/ewr/pdf2007/0703.pdf>.

 

 

 

Consultation on proposals for the development of a national network for the delivery of food, water and environmental microbiology services

The Health Protection Agency has published a consultation document on proposals for the development of a national network for the delivery of food, water and environmental (FW&E) microbiology services.

The HPA provides FW&E microbiology services from laboratories throughout England. The laboratories support investigations and surveillance undertaken by Local Authorities and Port Health Authorities. As official control laboratories, the FW&E services also support the functions of the Food Standards Agency. In addition the laboratories also support public health investigations initiated by the Local and Regional Services division of the HPA. There is a requirement to modernise and create a national HPA FW&E microbiology network, and the consultation document highlights the background to the changes that are needed.

Full details about the consultation, and the full documentation, can be found on the HPA website at <http://www.hpa.org.uk/consultations/2007/FWE.htm>. The deadline for responses is 30 April 2007, and a definitive plan will be published by 30 June 2007.