Brussels: A Salmonella Strathcona outbreak linked to Sicilian small tomatoes is still spreading across Europe, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says it is not yet under control. Its week 41 threats report, covering 3 to 9 October 2026, counts more than 160 new cases this year across ten EU and EEA countries, mostly with onset between July and September.
The scale is larger than a single season, and the Salmonella Strathcona outbreak now spans three years. About 670 confirmed cases were reported between 2023 and 2025, so the outbreak is now prolonged and multi-country. Investigators have identified Sicilian small tomatoes as the likely source. Germany reports eight cases and Luxembourg reports three, and all of the interviewed 2026 cases in those two countries ate cherry tomatoes.
The pattern has a long history. The strain was first tied to a large Danish outbreak in 2011 that involved datterino tomatoes from Sicily, and it has resurfaced repeatedly since. An earlier joint assessment by the ECDC and the European Food Safety Authority recorded cases in more than a dozen countries, with Italy, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and France among the most affected. It also called for work to find how the bacteria enter the supply chain, including checks on irrigation water and the wider growing environment.
That question belongs as much to agriculture as to public health. Fresh produce travels quickly from Sicilian growers through wholesalers to supermarkets and catering kitchens across the continent. A contaminated batch can reach many countries within days, and by the time cases appear, the product has often been eaten. The Salmonella Strathcona outbreak therefore tests the traceability systems that connect farms to plates.
For producers, the risk is reputational as well as medical. Growers who follow good practice can find themselves caught up in a Salmonella Strathcona outbreak alert, and the tomato sector has questioned the link in the past. Clear evidence on the point of entry would protect honest producers and let regulators target controls where they matter.
Several tools are available. Member states can intensify sampling of tomatoes and irrigation water, share whole-genome sequencing data through the EU system and require stronger hygiene checks at packing sites. The Commission can coordinate rapid alerts so that retailers withdraw affected batches quickly.
None of this is new, but the numbers show that the current response has not ended the Salmonella Strathcona outbreak. Until investigators identify where contamination begins, this Salmonella Strathcona outbreak will remain a live test of Europe’s food chain controls.
