Countrywide multi-serotype outbreak of Bovismorbificans ST142 and monophasic Typhimurium ST34 associated with dried pork sausages in France, September 2020* to January 2021.

The French National Reference Centre for and (FNRC-ESS) detected two human clusters of 33 cases (median age: 10 years; 17 females) infected by serotype Bovismorbificans, ST142, HC5_243255 (EnteroBase HierCC‑cgMLST scheme) in September-November 2020 and of 11 cases (median age: 11 years; seven males) infected by serotype 4,12:i:-, ST34, HC5_198125 in October-December 2020. Epidemiological investigations conducted by Santé publique France linked these outbreaks to the consumption of dried pork sausages from the same manufacturer.  Bovismorbificans and  4,12:i:- were isolated by the National Reference Laboratory from different food samples, but both strains were identified in a single food sample only by qPCR. Three recalls and withdrawals of dried pork products were issued by the French general directorate of food of the French ministry for agriculture and food in November 2020, affecting eight supermarket chains. A notification on the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed and a European urgent enquiry on the Epidemic Intelligence Information System for Food and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses (EPIS-FWD) were launched. No cases were reported outside France. Outbreaks caused by multiple serotypes of may go undetected by protocols in standard procedures in microbiology laboratories.