“We have had no reports [of listeria] in the last three weeks so we hope that the outbreak is now over, even though it is a little too early to tell just yet,” Viktor Dahl, doctor and epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden told The Foreigner, Thursday.

Authorities believe there is a common source of the outbreak.

Whilst the deaths cannot be 100 per cent confirmed to have been caused by the bacteria, 27 cases of the same type of strain have been reported throughout the country.

Four have died out of these cases, but again, listeria has not been confirmed as the cause of death. This is because most of the affected are elderly and have other diseases such as cancer

The outbreak has been allegedly linked to products produced by the Scan factory, which has recalled many of its items.

Scan has also been forced to close a factory in Kristianstad in southern Sweden’s Skåne County, where high quantities of the bacteria were found, though this facility has not been confirmed as the source.