A Salmonella Outbreak From Expired Eggs in a Prague School Canteen Affects 363 People

The Hygiene Station of the City of Prague, whose investigation is also published by the Czech Ministry of Health, updated on September 25 the tally of the salmonellosis outbreak linked to the canteen of a primary school in the capital: 363 people developed symptoms, 50 have been hospitalized since Monday the 21st and 22 have laboratory-confirmed salmonellosis, with further results still pending. The authorities classified the episode as an epidemic. Everyone who fell ill ate a lunch prepared on September 21 in the kitchen of the school's main building, a dish of spaghetti with egg.

According to the inspectors, the eggs used in the preparation had a best-before date that had expired six days before they were cooked. The kitchen also supplied other sites: in the main building 315 children and 21 employees fell ill, in two kindergartens 13 cases were recorded, in a meal delivery service for older adults 8 cases, and in an annex building of the school 6 cases. The school has around 1,100 students, and the police are also investigating the case.

The health authority ordered a complete disinfection of the kitchen, required negative Salmonella results for all staff and a review of hygiene procedures, and kept the kitchen closed until those conditions are met. In-person classes resume on Tuesday, September 29, with an external catering service that will supply the main building and the kindergartens.

For TAAG, the Prague outbreak sums up in a single episode the critical points of institutional catering involving eggs: a raw material past its shelf life, a preparation in which the egg may remain insufficiently cooked, and a central kitchen that distributes the same batch to schools, kindergartens and older adults. Salmonella control in these services starts with raw material management and heat treatment, and is verified with microbiological analysis of the prepared product.