Salmonella Outbreak In Western Canada

The southern mainland region of British Columbia – including the Vancouver metropolitan area – recently has experienced an unusual number of cases of Salmonella illness during the last two months.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, more than 60 confirmed cases of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported in the last two months, compared to just 39 infections due to this strain through all of 2007. Most, though not all, of the cases have occurred in the southern part of the province.

Salmonella Enteritidis has been linked, in the past, to contaminated meat, poultry, eggs and produce. Provincial epidemiologists have been working – unsuccessfully, so far – to identify a specific source of this outbreak.