Salmonella Enteritidis Outbreak Associated with Contaminated Raw Eggs in Cold-Braised Meat Assortment: Changsha, China, 2024

Salmonella, a significant zoonotic pathogen, remains the predominant global etiological agent of foodborne diseases and consistently ranks as one of the leading causes of foodborne disease outbreaks in China. We report a foodborne disease outbreak caused by Salmonella Enteritidis contamination of a cold-braised meat assortment (including a beef shank, pork tongue, tripe, marinated eggs, and dried egg products) linked to contaminated raw eggs at the JN Ecological Farm in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China, in November 2024. The outbreak was traced to a birthday lunch banquet on November 11, among 165 attendees, 54 confirmed cases were identified. The clinical manifestations primarily included diarrhea (79.63%), abdominal pain (75.93%), fever (40.74%), vomiting (24.07%), and nausea (22.22%), with an incubation period ranging from 5 to 36 h (median: 15 h). Notably, 52 of the 54 cases required hospitalization, including one critical case. Laboratory confirmation was obtained in 16 cases through bacterial isolation, with concurrent detection of Salmonella in residual braised meat assortment samples. Whole-genome sequencing was performed on all isolates, and subsequent bioinformatics analysis revealed a high degree of genetic homology, with fewer than three single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified among the isolates.