Belgium Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Laerco Eggs Reaches 306 Cases

At least 306 people have been infected with Salmonella in an outbreak linked to eggs produced by Laerco BV, an egg producer in Geel, Flanders. Belgium’s Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC/AFSCA) has expanded restrictions from individual poultry houses to the entire farm after Salmonella was detected in a second henhouse.

The outbreak was first identified in late April 2026, with a large-scale egg recall following in May. Epidemiological investigation subsequently linked the outbreak strain, Salmonella Enteritidis, to infections in affected people. The number of reported cases rose from 236 in May to about 300 by August 19, reaching 306 by August 25.

Up to 2 million eggs potentially affected

Authorities estimate that as many as 2 million potentially contaminated eggs entered the market. The products were distributed in Belgium and triggered precautionary recalls in eight other European countries, including Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic, according to information reported from the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).

The affected Belgian eggs carry shell codes 2-BE-1073-01, 2-BE-1073-02, 2-BE-1073-03 and 2-BE-1073-04. Consumers who have recalled eggs should not eat them and should follow the relevant recall instructions.

Farm-wide controls highlight the biosecurity challenge

Initially, authorities believed contamination was confined to one of the farm’s four poultry houses. Continued cases and subsequent sampling identified Salmonella in another house, prompting authorities to block the entire facility and expand the recall. The farm was subsequently closed and poultry culled, according to Reuters.

No deaths had been reported as of August 25. Salmonellosis commonly causes diarrhoea, fever and abdominal cramps; severe disease is more likely in vulnerable groups, including young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

AHI view

The Laerco outbreak illustrates how a localized poultry-farm contamination event can become a cross-border food-safety and trade issue. Once eggs enter integrated European distribution networks, traceability, rapid laboratory confirmation, farm-level biosecurity and coordinated recalls become critical to limiting exposure.

For Europe’s egg sector, the episode also reinforces the importance of Salmonella surveillance at farm level, whole-genome sequencing, environmental sampling and rapid information exchange through systems such as RASFF.