BRUSSELS, Aug 25 (Reuters) – A record salmonella outbreak in a Belgian chicken farm has infected at least 306 people after they \u200bate eggs, the food safety agency said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The \u200cagency said those who developed symptoms had been contaminated by a strain found at the farm, though many more may have contracted the \u200bdisease but not been tested as they had shown \u200bonly mild or no symptoms, said a spokesperson for \u2060the agency, known as AFSCA.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n “Salmonella is relatively common in \u200bBelgium, but we never had such a broad cluster with so \u200bmany people hit,” she said, adding that nobody had died.<\/p>\n AFSCA had first identified the contamination in May, issued a recall and closed down \u200ba hen house at a farm in Flanders, Belgium’s northern \u200bhalf. As more cases were reported, the whole farm was closed and \u200cthe \u2060poultry were culled after a second recall on August 10.<\/p>\n The company selling the eggs was identified as Laerco BV. It did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.<\/p>\n As \u200bmany as 2 \u200bmillion eggs potentially \u2060contaminated with the bacteria were sold in Belgium and neighbouring Luxembourg, where the local health \u200bagency also issued a recall.<\/p>\n Some eggs might still \u200bbe \u2060in some people’s kitchens and cause more cases despite the recall, the AFSCA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Cooking the eggs reduces the risk of \u2060contracting \u200bthe disease.<\/p>\n Salmonella is a group of \u200brod-shaped bacteria that can cause salmonellosis, a common foodborne illness. Symptoms typically include \u200bdiarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps.<\/p>\n Reporting by Inti Landauro Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n
\nEditing by Gareth Jones<\/p>\n