UK Salmonella Outbreak: What We Know So Far About The National Egg-Linked Crisis
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has declared a national outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis after one person died and hundreds more fell ill with the bacterial infection, with imported eggs emerging as the leading suspected source.
The outbreak was formally declared on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. According to the UKHSA, between 11 August 2025 and 1 August 2026, there were 207 confirmed cases, with all but one of these recorded in the 2026 cluster. The vast majority of cases occurred in England, with 199 confirmed, while six were recorded in Scotland, one in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland. Within England, London recorded the highest number of cases at 47, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber with 38.
More than a third of those affected, 38 per cent, were admitted to hospital, with two developing bloodstream infections as a result of the illness. Those affected ranged in age from infants to people as old as 90, according to the UKHSA.
Although not yet definitively proven, imported eggs or dishes containing them are currently the leading suspects behind the outbreak. Evidence also suggests that a significant number of people caught the infection while eating out rather than at home, with catering and food services such as restaurants, cafes or takeaways believed to have played a part in transmission.
Jacquelyn McCormick, head of incidents at the Food Standards Agency (FSA), said investigations had identified links to imported eggs, adding that there was “no evidence that UK-produced eggs are affected.” Hannah Charles, lead epidemiologist for gastrointestinal infections at UKHSA, said officials were “working with Food Standards Agency and other public health agencies to investigate a salmonella outbreak that may be linked to eggs imported from outside of the UK,” noting that salmonellosis “is often caused by eating or handling contaminated food and can, in rare cases, be spread from person to person.”
Charles added that salmonella “generally causes a mild illness, although vulnerable groups with weakened immune systems may experience more severe illness,” with symptoms including diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever. She advised anyone concerned about symptoms to contact their GP or out-of-hours service, and outlined simple preventive steps, including thorough handwashing after using the bathroom and before handling food, cooking food thoroughly, and avoiding preparing food for others while symptomatic.
The outbreak comes against a backdrop of already elevated Salmonella infection rates in England. Data published in May this year had shown consistently high levels of Salmonella cases in the country, representing the highest figure in a decade, having increased slightly from 10,389 cases in 2024 to 10,406 in 2025. Salmonella Enteritidis is the most common Salmonella serovar in England and the leading cause of salmonellosis nationally.
Commenting on the scale and unusual nature of the outbreak, Dr Aidan Taylor, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, said that while Salmonella infections occur every year in the UK, outbreaks linked to a single food source resulting in hundreds of illnesses and a reported death are relatively unusual and understandably a cause for concern. Other experts noted that one of the striking features of this outbreak is that genomic sequencing has allowed more than 200 cases across the UK to be connected to a single strain, underscoring the sophistication of modern outbreak tracing.
As of the time of filing, health officials had not identified the specific country or supplier of the implicated imported eggs, and the investigation into the precise source of contamination remains ongoing, with UKHSA and the FSA expected to provide further updates as more data is gathered.
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