Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Italian Tomatoes Grows; More Than 400 Sickened in 20 Countries
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has provided an update on a multi-year, multi-national outbreak of Salmonella Strathcona linked to tomatoes, reporting that, between January 2023 and September 2025, there have been 437 confirmed cases across 17 European countries, as well as in the UK, the U.S., and Canada.
Italy is the most affected country, with 123 cases, followed by Germany (112), Austria (76), and the UK (73). Despite being on another continent, the U.S. and Canada reported 24 and 10 cases, respectively. The greatest number of travel-related cases were associated with travel to Italy.
Tomatoes remain the primary suspected food vehicle of infection, as continued outbreak investigations in Austria, involving patient interviews and traceback activities, identified small tomatoes from Sicily, Italy as the cause.
The outbreak strain, S. Strathcona ST2559, was also linked to a foodborne illness outbreak caused by Italian tomatoes in 2023, as well as a historical S. Strathcona tomato outbreak that occurred in Denmark in 2011.
Isolates from human clinical cases and environmental and food samples have been connected with the outbreak via whole genome sequencing (WGS).
In light of these findings, Italian authorities conducted investigations and detected S. Strathcona in irrigation water samples from a Sicilian tomato grower, confirming environmental contamination as a driver of the outbreak.
ECDC says further investigations are required to verify tomatoes from Italy as the definitive source of infection and to guide effective pre-harvest controls, including for irrigation water sources.
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Additionally, as the outbreak strain was detected in other matrices connected with aquatic environments, ECDC highlights the need for a multi-disciplinary strategy integrating environmental assessments to mitigate the risk of Salmonella contamination.
Previously, ECDC reported that, between January 2023 and August 2025, there were 289 conformed cases of the outbreak strain in 19 European countries, plus the UK, the U.S., and Canada.
