It's a trend break that more people are now infected here at home, if you disregard the pandemic years when almost no one traveled, says Rikard Dryselius, investigator at the Public Health Agency.
Over 1,600 people were infected with salmonella in 2024, according to the preliminary figures. This compared to 1,316 cases in 2023.
It's a large increase that mainly depends on the fact that very many have been infected at home in Sweden. Not since 2007 have so many been reported infected within the country's borders, says Rikard Dryselius.
Large dark figure
Of those who fell ill in 2024, nearly 900 were infected in Sweden.
Rikard Dryselius adds that there is also a large dark figure when it comes to salmonella infections, despite it being a notifiable disease.
It's only those who become so ill that they seek care that are reported, and it's a minority of the cases. About one case in ten comes to our knowledge, he says.
The increase is mainly due to two major disease outbreaks during the autumn. One was caused by contaminated Ukrainian eggs and one had its origin in domestic sprouts grown from contaminated imported seeds.
Eggs are tricky. The infection can occur in non-Nordic eggs, but it's easily missed. As a private individual, you can protect yourself by boiling or frying eggs properly, says Dryselius.
The two outbreaks account for around 25 percent of the year's salmonella cases in Sweden.
But we also had an outbreak caused by rocket, where we had about 20 disease cases.
Protection against salmonella
In many cases, you can protect yourself against salmonella by being careful with hygiene and rinsing vegetables thoroughly. For other foods such as chicken and meat, it's a matter of heating them sufficiently.
The National Food Agency also reports an increase, at least when it comes to food recalls due to bacteria such as salmonella and listeria. Figures show that 2024 seems to be a record year for food recalls. Up to and including the last day of October, 63 recalls were made, which is as many as during the whole of 2023. How many of them were due to salmonella is currently unclear.
Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause food poisoning.
Symptoms are diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, and sometimes vomiting. They occur half to one day after infection.
The most common cause of salmonella outbreaks is contaminated food.
For healthy individuals, salmonella is usually harmless.
Small children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems can become severely ill and require hospital care.
According to the National Food Agency, you should avoid eating raw eggs from countries other than Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark.
Salmonella dies almost immediately at around 70 degrees. At lower temperatures, such as 65 degrees, it takes a bit longer.
Salmonella does not die from freezing.
Remember to rinse vegetables and cook minced meat thoroughly.
Sources: Public Health Agency, National Food Agency
