Over 550 Chicken-Related Salmonella Cases Confirmed
By Health Canada In Just 2 Years

As of the beginning of this month, 555 laboratory-confirmed cases of salmonella have been reported across the country by the Public Health Agency of Canada in less than two years. The Public Health Agency of Canada launched a collaborative investigation alongside the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada back in May of 2017.  The investigation specifically targetted salmonella outbreaks in Canada linked to raw chicken, including frozen raw breaded chicken products.

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The collaborative investigation employed innovative technology that scientists refer to as "whole genome sequencing" to analyze and identify outbreaks of infection.  16 national outbreaks connected to raw chicken were investigated, which linked to 13 specific food products.  As of March 1st, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had issued food recall warning for 12 of those products, and one product was removed from the market.

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Of the 555 confirmed cases, Ontario was the province that was most plagued with illness; 201 salmonella cases were recorded in Ontario.  As for the rest of Canada's provinces and territories, 42 of the cases were recorded in British Columbia, 84 in Alberta, 18 in Saskatchewan, 27 in Manitoba, 115 in Quebec, 28 in New Brunswick, 18 in Nova Scotia, 6 in Prince Edward Island, 12 in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1 in Northwest Territories, 1 in Yukon, and 2 in Nunavut.