Emily Dibba White, Maria João Cardoso, Alina Novacek, Felix Küffel, Norbert Handra, Christian Kornschober, Mihail Milanov, Gergana Mateva, Werner Ruppitsch, Anne Ribert Larsen, Malene Søby, Annemette Lyhne-Kjærbye, Stine Nielsen, Ruska Rimhanen-Finne, Anni Vainio, Aoife Colgan, Maria Pardos de la Grandara, Carolina Silva Nodari, Nathalie Jourdan Da Silva, Anika Meinen, Eva Trost, Eva Grilc, Marija Trkov, Rikard Dryselius, Ann Hoban, Marie Anne Chattaway, Anais Painset, Laura Villa, Claudia Lucarelli, Lin T Brandal, Heidi Lange, Pernille Gymoese, Pernille Munch Ryder, Steen Ethelberg, Luise Müller, Sabine Maritschnik
Salmonella Enteritidis is typically transmitted to humans via consumption of eggs or poultry meat. In July 2023, Denmark and Austria concurrently reported two outbreaks of genetically distinct S. Enteritidis sequence type (ST) 11. In both countries, cases were identified as part of the outbreaks using core-genome Multilocus Sequence Typing (cgMLST) between 1st of January and 1st of October, 2023. Outbreak investigations were conducted and included interviews with cases, food tracing, and, using cgMLST, comparisons of human, food, and environmental isolates. In the EU, 207 cases across 11 countries were found. Patient food histories pointed towards chicken, often sold as kebab meat. Extensive traceback investigations from affected restaurants and wholesalers in Austria and Denmark identified chicken meat produced in Poland as the vehicle of the outbreaks. Due to the death of one patient in Austria, the food safety authorities initiated more food safety controls for this food product, which led to food recalls. Recalls of specific chicken products from Poland were also conducted in Denmark. Despite national interventions and regulations targeting poultry producers, the EU remains collectively vulnerable to large-scale food contamination events originating in a single member state. Effective international and cross-sector collaboration was crucial to identifying the vehicle of these outbreaks.