As of 04/22/22, According to EU health officials: The outbreak is characterized by an unusually high proportion of children being hospitalized, some with severe clinical symptoms such as bloody diarrhea. Based on interviews with patients and initial analytical epidemiological studies, specific chocolate products (Kinder) have been identified as the likely route of infection. Affected cases have been identified through advanced molecular typing techniques. As this method of testing is not routinely performed in all countries, some cases may be undetected.

Kinder chocolate product recalls have been launched globally and examples of these can be found on several countries web sites including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and the UK. The recalls aim to prevent the consumption of products potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Further investigations are being conducted by public health and food safety authorities in countries where cases are reported, to identify the cause and the extent of the contamination, and to ensure contaminated products are not put on the market.

There has been 1 case reported in the United Sates to date.

According to Sante Publique reports, as of 04/27/2022: 59 cases of salmonellosis with a strain belonging to the epidemic, Salmonella Typhimurium, have been identified by the National Reference Center (CNR) for salmonella at the Institute Pasteur in France.

The 59 cases are spread over 11 regions (Ile-de-France (11 cases), Grand-Est (10 cases), Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (9 cases), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (7 cases), Hauts-de-France (6 cases), Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (4 cases), Normandy (4 cases), New Aquitaine (3 cases), Brittany (2 cases), Occitanie (2 cases), and Corsica (1 case), with a median age of 3 years, and concern 29 boys and 30 girls.

Forty-two cases were able to be questioned by Public Health France. All the cases report, before the onset of their symptoms (which occurred between 20/01 and 31/03/2022), the consumption of Kinder brand chocolates. Seventeen people were hospitalized for their salmonellosis, all since discharged. No deaths were reported.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 25 April 2022, a total of 151 genetically related cases of S. Typhimurium suspected to be linked to the consumption of the implicated chocolate products have been reported from 11 countries (Figure 1): Belgium (26 cases), France (25 cases), Germany (10 cases), Ireland (15 cases), Luxembourg (1 case), the Netherlands (2 cases), Norway (1 case), Spain (1 case), Sweden (4 cases), the United Kingdom (65 cases) and the United States of America (1 case).