Raw milk cheese linked to French Yersinia outbreak

More than 130 people are sick in France as part of a Yersinia outbreak linked to a brand of raw dairy goat cheese.

France has 133 cases, while Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg have one each in the outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 2, serotype O:9.

Etoile de Provence Banon AOP 100 grams with dates until August 2, 2024 has been recalled from more than 20 countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In France, sick people have isolation dates between January 27 and June 28. The cases are between 3 and 85 years old, with a median of 49, and 76 are women.

The Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region is the worst affected, with 57 patients, but cases have been identified in all regions of mainland France.

The latest start date among the 57 sick people interviewed is June 10. An unusually high consumption of a type of raw milk goat cheese was observed in the cases.

involvement of the ECDC
Reporting of enteric yersiniosis is not mandatory in France, but some medical laboratories regularly send isolates, clinical and demographic data to the French National Reference Laboratory Yersinia.

In 2022, there were three confirmed and one suspected Yersinia outbreaks in France, with 1,558 patients registered.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it is monitoring the event and contacting Member States and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

“Given the distribution of the affected products in several EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, the risk of contracting yersinosis is high among consumers who purchased the affected products or were exposed in other settings before the control measures were introduced have had an effect. New cases may emerge in the countries concerned, and historical cases may be identified retrospectively,” the ECDC said.

“The reported cases may represent a small proportion of all cases due to a lack of referred isolates and routine sequencing. As control measures have been implemented in countries, this reduces the risk of further human infections associated with this event.”

Symptoms of yersiniosis often develop three to seven days after infection. They include fever, abdominal cramps, watery or bloody diarrhea, headache and vomiting. Yersiniosis is usually self-limiting and symptoms can last from one to three days to three weeks.

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