A prolonged cross-border outbreak of Salmonella Strathcona ST2559 is ongoing in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA). From 2023 to 30 September 2025, 437 confirmed cases of S. Strathcona ST2559 were identified in 17 EU/EEA countries (205 additional cases since the first rapid outbreak assessment published on 12 November 2024): Austria (76), Croatia (3), Czechia (11), Denmark (12), Estonia (2), Finland (5), France (43), Germany (113), Ireland (6), Italy (123), Luxembourg (5), the Netherlands (5), Norway (4), Slovakia (6), Slovenia (10), Spain (3) and Sweden (10). Cases have also been reported in the United Kingdom (73), Canada (10) and the US (24). The most visited country among travel-related cases was Italy.
Tomatoes remain the primary food vehicle in several investigations for this prolonged multi-country outbreak. In 2025, new outbreak investigations in Austria identified small tomatoes from Sicily (Italy) as the source of infection, as was the case for the 2023 outbreak in Austria and the 2024 outbreak in Italy. The same conclusion was reached for a historical S. Strathcona ST2559 outbreak in Denmark in 2011.
In response, comprehensive investigations have been carried out by the food safety authority in Italy. The detection of S. Strathcona in a sample of irrigation water collected at the site of a tomato producer in Sicily confirmed the role of the environment in tomato contamination. These findings also highlighted the need for a multi-disciplinary strategy integrating environmental assessments to mitigate the risk of Salmonella contamination. This need is also confirmed by the detection of the outbreak strain in other matrices connected with aquatic environments.
To prevent new cases from occurring, further investigations should be undertaken to verify whether tomatoes from Sicily are the vehicle of infection and to guide effective control measures during the (pre)harvest period, including irrigation water sources.
