Positive salmonella test in laying flocks expected to be low
The number of positive salmonella tests in laying flocks is expected to be low when the first National Control Programme results are published.
Paul McMullin, senior vice president of the British Veterinary Poultry Association, said preliminary results seemed to indicate that there would not be many positive flocks. His comments were made whilst speaking to members of the poultry industry at Pig & Poultry Live. He was taking part in a workshop on salmonella.
The Government’s National Control Programme (NCP) for salmonella was launched at the beginning of 2008 amongst commercial laying flocks. The Launch followed a 12-month survey which established that salmonella enteridis (SE) or salmonella typhimurium (ST) - the two most important types of the bacteria as far as public health in concerned – were present on eight per cent of laying flock holdings. This figure was amongst the lowest recorded by major egg producing states in the EU.
The stated aim of the NCP is to reduce levels of SE and ST in laying flocks by 10 per cent each year over a three year period. No results from the programme have yet been published, but Paul McMullin expects the 2008 figures to be produced within the next two months, and he indicated that he expected the results to be encouraging.
Paul owns and manages Poultry Health Services, providing veterinary care for layers, broilers, turkeys and breeding operations. He has a Defra approved laboratory for salmonella testing and he is veterinary advisor to the British Egg Industry Council.
At Pig & Poultry Live, he was asked to give a presentation as part of a workshop for the poultry industry on salmonella.
He said the NCP had been introduced in Britain and other European countries as a requirement of the EU. Surveys had shown that the UK was at the lower end of salmonella prevalence amongst layer flocks in member states and the first year’s testing results should show low levels of positives.
Paul touched on the issue of heat treatment. Eggs from positive flocks cannot be used for human consumption without being heat treated. He said there had been a series of discussions with Defra about the workings of this system and Defra had accepted that this would not result solely from a positive dust sample. A dust sample is more susceptible to extraneous contamination. He said that other testing would be carried out to confirm a positive result before Defra would require eggs to be treated.
He spoke about measures to prevent salmonella, talking about building a "health wall" on the farm. Rodents were one of the biggest problems in controlling salmonella, he said. He recommended that farmers make use of a training pack produced by the Veterinary Laboratories Association.
A number of salmonella insurance schemes for producers have been introduced since the onset of the National Control Programme. Paul was asked whether he felt it was necessary to take insurance in the light of the low levels of positive tests and the use of vaccines and other measures to prevent salmonella.
"I am not really qualified to comment on that," he said. "As I understand it, some packers are providing it without forward cost. What will determine the cost is how many flocks go down. If a lot more flocks are affected than the insurers are expecting then the cost will be a good deal for producers. If there are a lot less, then the insurers will gain. I would prefer to look at a particular client’s circumstances rather than taking a general view," he said.
Those who attended the workshop also heard from Edwin Snow, technical manager for Noble Foods’ milling division. Edwin, who is a member of the AIC Legal Affairs and Scientific Committee and Organic Working Group, represents and advises the British Egg Industry Council and is a member of the FSA Advisory Committee on Animal Feeding Stuffs.
Edwin talked about the risk of transferring salmonella through feed and explained how the risk had been minimised through a series of initiatives and precautions. He said that layer meals should be considered low risk when it came to salmonella.
Assurance schemes for feed, feed materials and road haulage, together with Defra codes on the storage, handling and manufacture of feed materials and manufactured feed, which were currently undergoing revision, all reduced the risk of salmonella.
He said that feed did not naturally provide a good environment for salmonella to survive and grow. One reason was that feed normally had a level of moisture that was below the ideal level for salmonella.
