Europe - Cold Smoked Fish Linked to 18 Cases of Listeria, 5 deaths

In Europe, cold-smoked trout and salmon produced in Estonia has been identified as the source of a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak which has affected 22 people in five countries since 2014.

Food Safety Magazine
https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/news/cold-smoked-fish-to-blame-for-multi-country-listeria-outbreak/
News | June 4, 2019
Cold-Smoked Fish to Blame for Multi-Country Listeria Outbreak


A multi-country foodborne outbreak in Europe finally has a confirmed source: cold-smoked trout and salmon.

The fish products, produced in Estonia, were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Eighteen people in five countries have been affected since 2014. Five of them died. The affected areas have been:

•Denmark - 9 cases
•Sweden - 4 cases
•Estonia - 2 cases
•Finland - 2 cases
•France - 1 cases
The most recent case, reported in February, occurred in Denmark.

Cold-smoked trout and salmon were identified as the outbreak source via whole-genome sequencing by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Health officials say that the outbreak may continue because an exact point of contamination in the food processing chain has yet to be identified.