Investigation of national salmonella outbreak launched

The government has announced the launch of a new investigation into a national outbreak of a type of salmonella enteritidis.

Public Health England has formally agreed to look into the issue after more than 150 people across the country were affected, with cases also seen in Austria and France.

In England, the cases occurred as isolated clusters over several months and have been managed locally until this point, but they are now being reassessed as potentially linked under the national investigation.

Testing using genetic typing methods has revealed that all of the cases are infected with closely related strains, suggesting a single source is responsible.

Dr Paul Cleary, the consultant epidemiologist leading the investigation, said: "We are making good progress and hope to have more conclusive evidence shortly. We will continue to monitor the situation and, if there is any further public health action necessary, then we will ensure that this takes place."

There are more than 2,500 different strains of salmonella, with contaminated meat, eggs, milk and other dairy products being the most common sources of infection.