More than 160 people have fallen ill since July 2026 in a multi-country Salmonella outbreak that European health officials now treat as a recurring seasonal event rather than a one-off incident. Sequencing is pending for another 100 cases, so the count will rise.

Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden all reported illnesses, with most onset or sample dates falling between July and September 2026. Several countries recorded sickness in people who live in, or traveled to, Italy before symptoms began. Domestic cases have appeared in other countries too. The pattern points to a common exposure.

What has Germany found?

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's federal disease agency, reported 39 outbreak-associated cases in Germany since June 2026. That sits inside a larger Salmonella Strathcona outbreak spanning the 2025-2026 season with 116 people sick. Interviews in Germany and Luxembourg flagged cherry tomato consumption. Italy reported tomato consumption among its cases as well.

The cumulative picture is worse. More than 800 confirmed infections have occurred between January 2023 and September 2026. That figure includes 73 cases in the United Kingdom, 10 in Canada and 24 in the United States. At least seven Canadians and six Americans had traveled to Europe before falling ill. The pathogen, in short, exports.

Why does the outbreak keep returning?

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the recurrence points to ongoing transmission and distribution of contaminated produce both in and beyond Italy. Case counts consistently peak from July to September, in step with the European tomato season.

"The risk for new infections remains as long as the seasonal delivery of contaminated produce continues. New outbreaks are likely to occur in future seasons until the root cause of the contamination has been identified and control measures implemented," the agency said.

The trace-back record is now long. Austrian investigations in 2025 identified small tomatoes traded from Sicily as the infection source, matching Austrian findings in 2023 and Italian work in 2024. Official sampling at an Italian primary producer in November 2024 found the outbreak strain in irrigation water drawn from a well. Follow-up Austrian testing in 2025 confirmed the strain in cherry tomatoes from Italy. The evidence has not yet produced a fix.

What are Italian authorities doing now?

Authorities in Puglia have ordered a temporary suspension on the use and serving of raw fresh tomatoes across all food preparation centers and distribution points for institutional catering. The ban covers nurseries, schools, social care and healthcare facilities, residential care homes and hospitals. The order followed a rise in Salmonella Strathcona infections and detection of Salmonella in a tomato batch from Caltanissetta.

The enforcement scope matters for institutional foodservice operators. A regional suspension of this breadth pulls a staple commodity from menus in the highest-risk settings — hospitals, care homes and schools — and shifts procurement toward cooked or processed alternatives until the order lifts.

Earlier in October 2026, Italian authorities found monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Strathcona in cherry tomatoes. They also reported 117 salmonellosis cases in Brescia and 15 in Bergamo. For distributors and group-purchasing programs sourcing cherry tomatoes from Sicily, the findings repeat a trace-back conclusion three seasons running.

The ECDC's position is blunt: without a identified contamination source and implemented controls, operators should expect this outbreak to return with next summer's harvest.