Salmonella infections in England hit a decade high as climate and food-chain experts deepen the question
New data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that salmonella infections in the country have reached their highest level in a decade. According to Guardian Health, 10,406 salmonella cases were recorded in England in 2025 — 26 percent above the 8,241 cases registered in 2016. As health experts debate the multiple drivers behind the rise, climate change and shifts across the food chain have taken centre stage in the conversation.
Salmonella is a common group of bacteria transmitted to humans through animal faeces or contaminated food. According to UKHSA's published report, 48 percent of 2025 cases were Salmonella Enteritidis and 29 percent were Salmonella Typhimurium, with the remainder covering various subtypes. Most cases run as acute gastroenteritis with incubation periods between 12 and 72 hours, but serious cases that enter the bloodstream and require hospitalisation can occur in elderly people, children or immunocompromised patients.
On the role of climate change, Professor Mark Cassels of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine told the Guardian: 'salmonella is a pathogen highly sensitive to temperature and humidity conditions. The average temperature rise observed in England in 2024-25 made it easier for the bacterium to multiply at all stages of the food chain. Each hour the cold chain breaks contributes to a rise in cases.' Cassels also recalled that, given future temperature projections, growth in salmonella cases could be sustained.
Shifts in the food chain also feature in the equation. According to UKHSA data, 43 percent of 2025 cases were associated with poultry products, 18 percent with eggs, 12 percent with pork products and 9 percent with fresh fruit and vegetables. Over the same period England's chicken imports rose 15 percent, partly from Poland and Brazil. Food safety expert Professor Andrew Mansson told the Guardian: 'control points in the import chain can sometimes prove inadequate in the auditing framework that has grown more complex since EU exit.'
The distribution of cases among children and elderly is also notable. According to the UKHSA report, 22 percent of cases were among children under 5 and 18 percent among people over 65. These two age groups are the most likely to require serious hospitalisation for salmonella. Twelve salmonella-associated deaths were reported in England last year; 9 of those were among patients over 75.
The public health response is still forming. UKHSA has begun coordination with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to review food safety action. FSA chair Anita Lewis told the Guardian: 'we will share with the public in July a new technical regulation that tightens the timing of import inspections where the cold chain is engaged.' Lewis also said a new consumer information campaign on 'cooking temperatures, cross-contamination prevention and hand-to-hand transmission' would begin.
The report is also interesting from an international comparison standpoint. According to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) data, salmonella cases rose 18 percent across the European Union in 2025; the highest rises were observed in Germany (+24 percent), France (+21 percent) and Poland (+19 percent). That rise shows climate change is operating with similar patterns across borders, although travel and import flows between countries may also play a part.
Professor Dame Sally Davies, an antibiotic-resistance expert the Guardian spoke with, drew attention to another dimension of the increase in salmonella cases: 'rising cases simultaneously raise antibiotic resistance in salmonella strains; because each case leads to more antibiotic use and accelerates resistance development.' This comment sits in harmony with last week's Guardian report on the relationship between climate and antibiotic resistance.
In addition to UKHSA's salmonella action, fiscal planning is required within the health system. According to NHS England, the direct treatment cost of salmonella cases in 2025 was around £78 million — roughly twice the £42 million cost in 2020. Through corrective intervention in the food chain, steps to reduce antibiotic resistance and raise temperature-control standards, the goal is to stabilise this cost within the next three years.
This article is not medical advice; if you are showing salmonella symptoms (high fever, diarrhoea, abdominal pain), please call NHS 111 or contact your GP. The principal precautions you can take as a consumer are to cook poultry and pork products until they reach an internal temperature of at least 75°C, use separate cutting surfaces for eggs and chicken, and keep refrigerator temperatures below 5°C. Following health-authority advice is the safest path for both individual and community health.