Cheese Outbreak: A 2022 Mystery Solved

In the summer of 2022, a peculiar cluster of 12 cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O103:H2 was spotted by the UK Health Security Agency. This group was genetically connected and spread across different regions. By analyzing what people had eaten, cheese, especially an unpasteurized brie-style cheese, and mixed salad leaves stood out as potential culprits. A study was conducted to dig deeper into this. Researchers chatted with those who fell ill to gather food history details. For comparison, they also talked to healthy folks via an online survey.

The study found that eating the specific brie-style cheese made one 57. 5 times more likely to get sick. Meanwhile, the cheese's production was inspected. Tests on the cheese and the dairy farm's cows didn't find the exact outbreak strain but did detect toxin genes and other E. coli. All this evidence pointed to the cheese being the cause. The producer stopped making unpasteurized dairy products and reviewed their practices.

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