Salmonella Chester

Background: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Chester (antigenic formula: 1,4,[5],12:e,h: e,n,x:) is a serovar of the O:4 (B) serogroup. Serovar Chester is a rare serovar worldwide. For example, in Canada, it only accounted for an average of seven human infections per year. In the US during 2001-2011, only 403 human cases have been reported. In addition, animal and food surveillance have not found serovar Chester in these sources in the US.

NCBI PD link for serovar Chester: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pathogens/isolates/#(taxgroup_name:%22Salmonella%20enterica%22)%20AND%20computed_types:(%22serotype=Chester%22)

Animal reservoir: There is not clear evidence of the animal reservoir for this serovar, although serovar Chester has been found in various animals, including turkeys, cattle, reptiles, and birds.

Geographical distribution: Serovar Chester have been reported worldwide, including countries in North (US, Canada) and South America (Brazil), Morocco and Australia.

Human outbreaks: Despite the fact that this is a rare serovar, multiple outbreaks have been reported. Below are examples.

Year	Location	Associated source	Number of cases
2010	Canada	Headcheese	33
2010	US: multistate	Frozen meals	44
2005	Australia	Tap water	26
1998	Australia	Turtle meat	36

Border rejections:

Year	Exporting country	Importing country	Associated source	Product category
2023	Spain	France	Frozen chicken drumstick¹	Poultry meat and poultry meat products
2023	Turkey	Switzerland	Red Paprika, sweet	Herbs and spices
2021	The United Kingdom	Denmark	Fishmeal pellets for farmed salmon	Feed materials

¹ Salmonella Vichow and Salmonella Chester were both found.

Recalls:

Year	Location	Recalled food	Type
2024	Germany	Organic moringa powder from Sri Lanka	Dietetic foods, food supplements and fortified foods

Relevant links:

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Salmonella Chester