Prolonged multi-country outbreak of Salmonella Strathcona ST2559 linked to consumption of tomatoes in the European Union/European Economic Area – first update

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.