ECDC is tracking a cluster of Salmonella Stanley ST2045 (a specific genetic sequence type of the bacterium) covering 83 cases in 10 EU countries since late December 2025, with children and young adults over-represented 1. Salmonella is a common cause of food poisoning; what makes this cluster notable is its spread across borders rather than its severity. The suspected vehicle is chicken-flavoured instant noodles or processed chicken sharing a common ingredient, and the cluster remains active.
The over-representation of children among the 83 cases is the detail worth holding. A shared ingredient routed through a popular convenience food reaches young consumers efficiently, which is how a low-profile Salmonella strain has turned up in ten member states at once rather than in one. The geographic spread points to a single supply chain, not ten separate kitchens.
A joint ECDC and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Rapid Outbreak Assessment is due 1 July; EFSA is the EU body that co-publishes these assessments on foodborne clusters. Until it identifies the shared ingredient and its distributor, the cluster stays open, and the practical relevance for readers is the recall path once the source product is named. The WHO drug-resistance action plan adopted in late May set the backdrop: the food chain carries both resistant bacteria and ordinary pathogens, and this chicken-linked cluster is the second kind reaching ten countries at once.
