National programme to fight salmonella

21-09-2007 | |
National programme to fight salmonella

A Welsh Assembly Government consultation on a programme to protect public health by updating and enhancing existing controls on Salmonella in poultry laying flocks has been announced.

Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones: “The proposed regulations provide a framework for the National Control Programme (NCP) that details the phases of production which sampling and testing for Salmonella must cover.”
“In particular,” she continues, “it will set the target for an annual reduction of at least 10% in the number of positive adult laying flocks, compared with the previous year. The starting baseline in Wales and for the rest of the UK, will be 8% prevalence of Salmonella Enteritidis and S. Salmonella Typhimurium serotypes.”
In 2004-2005, a nation-wide survey of commercial laying flocks showed that approx. 8% of layer flock holdings in the UK were infected with Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium.
“This demonstrates excellent progress of industry-led initiatives to reduce Salmonella prevalence in laying flocks,” said the minister, “However, work still needs to be done to reduce this level further and minimise the possible impact of the heat treatment requirement on producers. The NCP will enable the laying flocks sector to build on its success in the protection of human health and benefit from producers across the EU applying approaches that are consistent and comparable.”
 
 

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