Danish officials are searching for the source of a Salmonella outbreak that has affected more than a dozen people.

From May to July, 14 people infected with the same type of Salmonella Enteritidis were registered at the Statens Serum Institut (SSI).

Patients are six men and eight women, who live in different parts of the country. They are aged between 15 and 99 with a median of 38 years old.

Five sick people are from Midtjylland and four in Syddanmark, while Hovedstaden and Sjælland both have two cases and one patient lives in Nordjylland.

The SSI, Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (Fødevarestyrelsen), and DTU Food Institute are investigating the outbreak.

SSI is in the process of whole genome sequencing isolates from patients and interviewing ill people or their relatives to identify a possible source of infection.

Whole genome sequencing of patient isolates has revealed they are very closely related and all belonged to sequence type 11, which is the most frequently detected Salmonella type in Denmark and the rest of Europe.

Salmonella Muenchen update
Danish officials are also still searching for the source of another Salmonella outbreak that has now affected more than 30 people.

From March to June, 31 people have been infected with the same type of Salmonella Muenchen. One person has died and several have been hospitalized.

Those sick are 12 men and 19 women. They are between 10 and 95 years old with a median age of 70. More than half of patients live in Hovedstaden.

Whole genome sequencing of bacteria isolated from patients has found they were closely related which suggests that there is a common source of infection.

Salmonella Muenchen is a rare type in Denmark with usually only two to eight cases per year.

In 2022, there were 899 cases of Salmonella in Denmark, compared to 692 in 2021. Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium, including the monophasic variant, were the top types involved in illnesses. Salmonella also caused 11 outbreaks last year, which included three international incidents.