Five country outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes linked to cold-smoked fish

Cold-smoked trout and salmon produced in Estonia was found to be the source of the Listeria monocytogenes outbreak which has affected 22 people in five countries (Denmark (9 cases), Estonia (6), Finland (2), France (1), and Sweden (4)) since 2014. Five patients have died as a result. The first case had symptom onset in July 2014 in Estonia, and the most recent case occurred in Denmark in February 2019. L. monocytogenes isolates, matching the outbreak strain were detected at the wholesale and retail level in four countries (i.e. France, Denmark, Italy, and Sweden). Traceability information of the contaminated batches pointed to the Estonian processing Company as the single common manufacturer of these fish products. The raw fish was received from suppliers in Norway and Finland. Environmental samples of the Estonian plant demonstrated the presence of L. monocytogenes that matched the outbreak strain in two samples. The presence of L. monocytogenes strains matching the outbreak strain over several years suggests the persistence of the microorganism at the Estonian company’s premises. @ https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/scientific_output/EN-1665-FINAL.pdf