Contaminated chicken used in kebabs to blame for food poisoning outbreak

Pic: Pexels

Contaminated chicken found in kebab meat products is thought to have caused an outbreak of food poisoning in Ireland, leaving four people hospitalised.

Reports of Salmonella Virchow ST16 have been identified in four EU countries alongside Ireland, with a total of 210 cases identified since June 2017, according to a report released by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Ireland had reported a total of four cases, all of whom were hospitalised - two in 2017 and an additional two in 2018.

The ages of those affected ranged from 55 to 84 years of age. 

Those affected consisted of one male and three females. Two of the cases reported contact with pet dogs, while a third lived on a farm with exposure to cattle.

The remaining case presented as a possible secondary case, likely infected through household transmission.

France reported the highest number of cases, a total of 111. This was followed by the Netherlands where 34 cases were presented.

Denmark had the lowest number of cases recorded, with a total of two people infected.

Despite the range in hospitalisation rates across the various countries, no deaths were reported.

The ECDC expressed the number of confirmed cases only represent a small proportion of all cases in the affected areas, due to the "varying sequencing capacities of countries".

"New infections are likely to occur in the EU/EEA affecting any age group, until further investigations are performed to identify the source(s) and point(s) of contamination along the chicken meat production chain," the ECDC statement read.