HC Deb 09 November 1989 vol 159 c750W
Mrs. Gorman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were(a) the number of outbreaks of food poisoning, connected with salmonella for each month of the current year to date, (b) the corresponding figures for 1988 and (c) the source of the information.

Mr. Freeman

There were 712 outbreaks of salmonellosis in humans reported in England and Wales in the period January to September 1989. The corresponding figure for 1988 was 332. Figures are not routinely collated on a monthly basis. The dates are based on formal reports to the communicable disease surveillance centre by public health laboratory service and other laboratories and by local authorities, and were published on 30 October in the "Update on salmonella infection" produced jointly by the public health laboratory service and the state veterinary service.