Salmonella 'superbug' warning

4th August 2011 -- A new strain of salmonella with a high resistance to antimicrobial treatment has emerged, according to a new study.

French researchers looked at salmonella reports from England, Wales, France, Denmark and the US.

They found a multidrug-resistant strain of salmonella called S. Kentucky which infected 489 patients between 2000 and 2008.

They say the bug originated in Egypt from around 2002 and later infections were picked up in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

Around 10% of the people infected hadn't been abroad, which the scientists say, suggests that some infections may have also occurred in Europe through eating contaminated imported food or through secondary contaminations.

More than 1.6 million salmonella cases were reported between 1999 and 2008 in 27 European countries. Last year in the UK, there were 9,133 salmonella cases identified.

Most infections only cause mild gastroenteritis in healthy people, however for elderly and people with weakened immune systems, salmonella can be life threatening.

The study, published online in The Journal of Infectious Diseases says S. Kentucky salmonella was found in chickens and turkeys from Ethiopia, Morocco and Nigeria. The researchers say extensive use of drugs to treat chickens and turkeys may have contributed to this rapid spread.

This means that by the time a human picks up food poisoning  from infected food, the salmonella may have learned to resist treatment given to seriously ill patients.

The study points to weaknesses in infection monitoring around the world which makes new strains of infections harder to track. The Health Protection Agency says more than 2500 different strains of salmonella have already been identified.

Cooking tips

A Food Standards Agency spokesperson told us by email: "Human salmonella infections are rarely treated with antibiotics. Cooking food thoroughly will destroy any bacteria irrespective of whether the organism is resistant to antibiotics or not. 

"As part of the FSA strategy to reduce foodborne illness we recommend people follow some basic food safety rules: wash hands properly and keep them clean, cook food thoroughly, chill foods properly and avoid cross-contamination.  These principles, which are designed to reduce the risk from pathogens, such as salmonella, are equally applicable whether these pathogens are resistant to antimicrobials or not."