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More than 160 people in several European countries have been reported ill in a recurring Salmonella Strathcona outbreak, with most recent cases dating to July through September 2026. The ECDC says more than 800 confirmed infections have been recorded across Europe and other countries since January 2023; contaminated produce is suspected, but the source of the latest cases has not been confirmed.
More than 160 people across multiple European countries have been reported ill in a recurring Salmonella Strathcona outbreak, with most recent cases linked to July through September 2026. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says the pattern of infections points to ongoing transmission, but the source of the latest illnesses has not been confirmed; sequencing is still pending for 100 additional cases.
Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have reported cases, according to Food Safety News. Several affected countries identified people who lived in Italy or had travelled there before becoming ill, a pattern that may indicate a shared exposure. Other countries have also recorded people without that reported travel connection.
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute recently reported 39 outbreak-associated cases in Germany since June 2026. The report says interviews with a small number of patients in Germany and Luxembourg found that they had eaten cherry tomatoes. Italy has also reported tomato consumption among some cases. These interview findings are clues, not confirmation that tomatoes caused every illness in the current outbreak.
The latest reports add to a longer-running pattern: more than 800 confirmed infections between January 2023 and September 2026, including 73 in the United Kingdom, 10 in Canada and 24 in the United States. At least seven Canadian and six U.S. patients had travelled to Europe before falling ill, the report says. Those international counts describe the broader period and should not be read as the number of new cases in the current European cluster.
Why Recurring Produce Exposure Matters
The duration and geographic spread of the reported infections matter because the outbreak is not confined to one country or a single summer. The ECDC says cases repeatedly peak between July and September, and considers the recurrence evidence of continued transmission and distribution of contaminated produce in Italy and beyond. The agency warns that infections could recur in future seasons if the underlying contamination source is not identified and controlled.
There are also immediate public-health consequences while the investigation continues. Authorities in Italy’s Puglia region temporarily suspended the use and serving of raw fresh tomatoes in institutional catering, including in nurseries, schools, healthcare and social-care facilities, residential care homes and hospitals. The order followed a rise in Salmonella Strathcona infections and the detection of Salmonella in a tomato batch from Caltanissetta, according to the report. The measure is a precaution tied to a specific setting; it does not establish that all tomatoes, or all produce from Italy, are contaminated.
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Earlier Tomato Findings in Italy
Investigations in previous seasons provide context for the current suspicion. In 2025, Austrian outbreak investigations identified small tomatoes traded from Sicily as the source of infections, the report says, echoing Austrian findings from 2023 and Italian work in 2024. Official sampling at an Italian primary producer in November 2024 found the outbreak strain in irrigation water taken from a well. Follow-up investigations in Austria in 2025 also confirmed the outbreak strain in cherry tomatoes from Italy.
Those earlier results strengthen the reason investigators are examining tomatoes and production conditions again, but they do not by themselves prove the route or source of the 2026 cases. The report also describes Italian findings earlier in October of monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Strathcona in cherry tomatoes, as well as 117 salmonellosis cases in Brescia and 15 in Bergamo. Those details concern reported Italian investigations; the material does not establish that every case or bacterial finding belongs to the same outbreak.
““The risk for new infections remains as long as the seasonal delivery of contaminated produce continues.””
— European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Cases Awaiting Genetic Results
The immediate case count may change: sequencing is pending for 100 additional cases, and the report does not specify how many will be confirmed as part of the outbreak. It also does not give a final count by country for the more than 160 recently reported illnesses, or a complete timeline for when every patient became ill.
Tomatoes remain a suspected exposure, not a confirmed explanation for all current cases. Patient interviews identified tomato consumption in a few instances, and previous investigations found the outbreak strain in tomatoes and irrigation water. However, the available information does not establish whether the same contamination source is responsible for the latest illnesses, how produce may have become contaminated, or which products and distribution routes, if any, are implicated now.
Sequencing and Source Tracing
Health authorities are expected to use the pending sequencing results to determine whether additional patients are genetically linked to the outbreak. Investigators will also need to compare patient interviews, food and travel histories, and sampling results across countries to clarify whether cases share an exposure and how any contaminated produce moved through distribution networks.
The Puglia restriction on raw tomatoes in institutional catering is temporary, according to the report. The source material does not provide an end date or say when authorities will review or lift the measure. Further updates are likely to depend on laboratory findings and follow-up investigations; until those results are available, the scale and precise cause of the latest cluster remain unsettled.
Key Questions
How many people are reported ill in the latest outbreak update?
More than 160 people have been reported ill across several European countries. Sequencing is pending for another 100 cases, so how many of those will be linked to the outbreak is not yet known.
Are tomatoes confirmed as the source of the 2026 illnesses?
No. Some patient interviews identified cherry-tomato consumption, and earlier investigations found the outbreak strain in tomatoes and irrigation water. The information available does not confirm that tomatoes caused every illness in the current cluster.
Which countries have reported cases?
The countries named in the report are Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. The report does not provide a complete country-by-country count for the latest cases.
Why are authorities concerned about another summer peak?
More than 800 confirmed infections were reported across Europe and other countries from January 2023 to September 2026, and the ECDC says case numbers repeatedly peak from July to September. The agency says future seasonal outbreaks are possible if the contamination source is not found and controlled.
What restrictions have been introduced in Italy?
Authorities in Puglia temporarily suspended the use and serving of raw fresh tomatoes in institutional catering, including schools, nurseries, hospitals and care facilities. The report does not specify when the restriction will be reviewed or lifted.
Source: rss
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