More than 100 people have fallen sick in 11 countries as part of a Salmonella outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouted seeds from India.
Between January and May, 109 confirmed Salmonella Bovismorbificans infections were reported in 10 European countries and the United Kingdom. Finland had the most patients with 35, followed by 30 in the UK and 17 in the Netherlands.
Patients range in age from 4 to 88 years old with 77 females and 31 males ill. Eighteen people required hospitalization. It was previously known that 50 people were sick in seven countries. Two deaths were reported in Finland. Both cases had underlying health conditions, and one was receiving terminal care.
Another 50 probable cases are under investigation in four EU countries.
Alfalfa sprouts, and possibly other sprouted seeds, are the primary food vehicle in the multi-country outbreak, said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). According to a Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) alert, the suspected sources were alfalfa seeds, clover seeds, broccoli seeds and radish seeds from Italy.
In April, Ireland reported three related Salmonella Bovismorbificans infections to the European surveillance portal EpiPulse. After this alert, other European countries reported cases clustering with the Irish strain.
Connection to India
Many of the interviewed patients in Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the UK had consumed sprouted seeds before illness.
Epidemiological evidence identified alfalfa sprouted seeds from Italy as the primary vehicle of infection. Microbiological evidence included detection of the outbreak strain in water samples collected during alfalfa sprouted seed harvesting in the Netherlands and the UK. A Finnish sprouted seed producer was epidemiologically linked to cases in Finland.
One positive was an internal control sample of rinsing water from a harvest of sprouted alfalfa seeds at the site of a company in the Netherlands in February. The other was of irrigation water from sprouted seeds collected at the premises of a producer in the UK in March.
Traceability investigations in Italy identified a common seed supplier in India. The outbreak strain is thought to have entered Europe in October 2025 via two alfalfa seed consignments, before being distributed across multiple countries.
Control measures included the withdrawal of implicated consignments, recalls of related products, halting production and destruction of suspected products.
ECDC and EFSA said further infections may occur until the source of contamination is fully identified and controlled, particularly because sprouted seeds can be sold as ready-to-eat products.