{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T11:04:09Z","timestamp":1784027049721,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":6,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"7","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EFS2","EFSA Journal"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Abstract Between January and May 2026, 109 confirmed cases of Salmonella Bovismorbificans ST377 were reported from 10 European Union\/European Economic Area (EU\/EEA) countries (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain and the Netherlands) and the United Kingdom. The outbreak predominantly affected adult females. Eighteen cases required hospitalisation. Two deaths were reported in Finland (one confirmed and one probable case). Epidemiological and microbiological evidence identified alfalfa sprouted seeds traded from Italy as the primary vehicle of infection. Microbiological evidence included the detection of the outbreak strain in water samples collected during alfalfa sprouted seed harvesting in the Netherlands and Northern Ireland (UK). A Finnish sprouted seed producer was epidemiologically linked to cases in Finland. Traceability investigations in Italy identified a common seed supplier in India, suggesting this area as a potential origin of seed contamination. The outbreak strain presumably started circulating in Europe in October 2025 via two alfalfa seed consignments, before being distributed across multiple countries. Control measures included the withdrawal of the implicated consignments, recalls of related products, cessation of production and the destruction of suspected products. Following these interventions, case notifications decreased. However, further infections may occur until the source of contamination is fully identified and controlled, particularly because sprouted seeds can be sold as ready\u2010to\u2010eat products, representing a concern for microbial food safety. Based on available information, the risk of infections is assessed as low\u2010to\u2010moderate for people in EU\/EEA countries who frequently consume sprouted seeds. Public health authorities are encouraged to interview new cases, sequence isolates, and share information in EpiPulse. Food safety authorities are encouraged to investigate the role of the environment in seed contamination. Seed producers should implement appropriate measures to minimise the contamination risk. Sprouted seed producers should implement adequate food safety management systems to ensure safe products reach the market.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T10:09:56Z","timestamp":1784023796000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Multi\u2010country outbreak of Salmonella Bovismorbificans ST377 infections linked to the consumption of alfalfa sprouted seeds 25 June 2026"],"prefix":"10.2903","volume":"24","member":"311","reference":[{"key":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220_ref1","unstructured":"European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) . (2025). Joint ECDC EFSA Rapid Outbreak Assessment. Prolonged cross\u2010border multi\u2010serovar Salmonella outbreak linked to consumption of sprouted seeds. 6 March 2025. Stockholm: ECDC. Available at: https:\/\/www.ecdc.europa.eu\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/salmonella-outbreak-sprouted-seeds-outbreak-assessment-march-2025_0.pdf"},{"key":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) . (2022). Guidelines for reporting Whole Genome Sequence\u2010based typing data through the EFSA One Health WGS System. EFSA Supporting Publications., 19(6) EN\u20107413. Available at: https:\/\/efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/epdf\/10.2903\/sp.efsa.2022.EN\u20107413","DOI":"10.2903\/sp.efsa.2022.EN-7413"},{"key":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220_ref3","unstructured":"Rossi, M., Silva, M. S. D., Ribeiro\u2010Gon\u00e7alves, B. F., Silva, D. N., Machado, M. P., Oleastro, M., et al. (2018). INNUENDO whole genome and core genome MLST schemas and datasets for Salmonella enterica (Version 1.0) [data set]. Zenodo. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5281\/zenodo.1323684"},{"issue":"D1","key":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"D660","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkaa889","article-title":"Chewie Nomenclature Server (chewie\u2010NS): A deployable nomenclature server for easy sharing of core and whole genome MLST schemas","volume":"49","author":"Mamede","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res."},{"key":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220_ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) . (2011). Scientific Opinion on the risk posed by Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and other pathogenic bacteria in seeds and sprouted seeds. EFSA Journal, 9(11), 2424. Available at: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2903\/j.efsa.2011.2424","DOI":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2011.2424"},{"key":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220_ref6","unstructured":"European Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073\/2005 of 15 November 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs OJ L 338, 22.12.2005, pp. 1\u201326. Available at: https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/eli\/reg\/2005\/2073\/oj\/eng"}],"container-title":["EFSA Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/api.wiley.com\/onlinelibrary\/tdm\/v1\/articles\/10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/wol1\/doi\/10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220\/fullpdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T10:09:58Z","timestamp":1784023798000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"references-count":6,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2903\/j.efsa.2026.10220","relation":{},"ISSN":["1831-4732","1831-4732"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1831-4732","type":"print"},{"value":"1831-4732","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]}}}