In a follow-up to a report last week, the outbreak of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in New Zealand has grown to 127 confirmed cases, an increase of 26 cases, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
In addition, there are 16 presumptive cases (suspected yet to be confirmed). A total of 38 people have been hospitalized.
Concerning the source of the outbreak, MPI Deputy Director General Regulation and Assurance Scott Gallacher said, “We are doing all we can to locate what caused this outbreak of Yersinia pseudotubercolosis.
“We are getting a lot of information, building a picture and investigating many avenues. This information is preliminary and far from conclusive at this stage.
“It is not a simple situation where we can recall a single product. It is not definitively linked to any one supermarket chain.”
The Environmental and Scientific Research (ESR) reports identifying a range of potential foods that have been linked to the outbreak. They do not, however, definitively identify a specific food as the source. There is no single food that has been consumed by 100% of the cases. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
