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Salmonella Affected Cases Rises to 31

by Medindia Content Team on Jul 1 2006 4:41 PM

Since March a strain of Salmonella Montevideo has infected thirty one people and three of them including a baby and a child have been hospitalized , said the Health Protection agency.

The Agency is probing the increased number of cases.

The chocolate maker Cadbury had withdrawn about a million chocolate bars after contamination in the lot produced in one of its factories. However the Agency has not linked this outbreak to any food.

The HPA has reported that this is occurring in people under 52 years with more than half cases reported in children under 4.

Salmonella affects children more because of their weaker immune system. A previous outbreak of salmonella Montevideo in England was linked to contaminated cooked chicken, while elsewhere in the world sesame seed-based products and tomatoes caused outbreaks.

The HPA said: "A definitive epidemiological link has not been established between the current increase in [salmonella] Montevideo infection and the consumption of any food."

The HPA will be continuing its epidemiological and microbiological investigation by helping local authorities to investigate food manufacturing premises in the south-west of England and West Midlands.

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