Salmonellosis epidemic rages in Jyväskylä – over 400 infected

Usually in Finland no more than 30 people are infected with salmonella per year. The city is asking parents not to let sick children swim in public bodies of water.

The salmonellosis epidemic raging in Jyväskylä is unusually large for Finland. Salmonella-related diarrhea has resulted in over 150 children being seen by doctors in Central Finland.

In fact, there are even more infected people, experts say. More than 400 children and kindergarten workers could be infected with Salmonella, according to Sami Lahti , head of the city's preschool education department.

Usually, no more than 30 people suffer from salmonellosis annually. There are about two epidemics a year.

“They're usually pretty small. If in Finland more than 50 people are infected with salmonella a year, then we are talking about a fairly large-scale case of infection, – says epidemiologist Ruska Rimhanen-Finne from THL.

The last major salmonellosis epidemic occurred in Finland in 2012, when 97 people fell ill. It was assumed that the cause of the poisoning was the dishes offered to guests at a summer party, but after checks, not a single product turned out to be a source of Salmonella.

Usually, salmonella contaminates food brought from abroad.

In this case, experts suspect that food prepared by the catering company Kylän Kattaus was the source of the infection.