The U.K. Health Services Agency, Food Standards Agency, and Food Standards Scotland are investigating an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes linked to the consumption of smoked fish.
“Initial investigations have established a link between the listeriosis cases and consumption of smoked fish, such as smoked salmon, through whole genome sequencing,” the FSS said in a statement emailed to SeafoodSource. “We are aware that cases reported various smoked salmon brands purchased from a range of retailers.”
FSS and FSA are working closely with retailers and their suppliers and conducting investigations to determine the root cause of the outbreak, FSS noted.
Whole genome sequencing analysis has identified an outbreak of 12 linked cases of listeriosis since 2020 – six since January 2022, the FSA said in a press release. The majority of the affected individuals in England and Scotland reported eating smoked fish. One individual was a pregnant woman.
“This contamination could be particularly unsafe to people who are vulnerable to listeria infection – including people who are pregnant and people with certain underlying conditions or who are taking medications which can weaken the immune system," FSA said.
As a precaution, information for people who are pregnant has been updated to advise that they thoroughly cook smoked fish before eating it.
In addition, the FSA and other agencies are updating the information on avoiding listeriosis infection to include smoked fish as a high-risk product which should be thoroughly cooked before being eaten by anyone in a high-risk group.
“We are working closely with U.K. partners across government to ensure that this advice is as clear as possible: members of the public do not need to avoid these products, but should ensure risks are reduced as far as possible,” FSA Head of Incidents Tina Potter said. “You can do this by keeping chilled, ready-to-eat smoked fish cold (5 degrees Celsius or below), always using products by their use-by date, following the storage and usage instructions on the label, and cooking or reheating smoked fish until it is piping hot right through."
Risk of listeriosis is particularly high but not completely limited to: individuals with cancer, organ transplants, patients taking oral steroids, patients undergoing immunosuppressive or cytotoxic treatment including biologics and chemotherapy, people who are pregnant and their newborn babies, those above 65 years of age, those with uncontrolled HIV infection, uncontrolled diabetes, chronic liver or kidney disease, people with an alcohol dependency and those with iron overload, FSA said.
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