UK keeps close eye on salmonella
While findings of salmonella in UK commercial layer flocks have been the lowest among EU countries with large poultry populations, some 8% still tested positive for Salmonella enteritidis and typhyimurium, the salmonella serotypes most commonly associated with food poisoning in humans.
“This percentage should be reduced by all possible means, including the identification of flaws in the system, such as poor vaccination technique, biosecurity, hygiene, disinfection and monitoring. Identification of any weak spots is essential to reduce the overall load of salmonella since a challenge can always be high enough to break through the immune system,” said Eduardo Bernardi, vaccine marketing director for Lohmann Animal Health.
“Live vaccines administered through the drinking water provide a convenient, welfare-friendly way to build up immunity, but because we are dealing with a zoonosis matter it is important that the live vaccine strains are not found in the environment; for example in faeces or dust, or in other species, such as rodents.â€
Issues concerning vaccine safety are likely to come to the fore as egg producers face increasingly stringent sampling for salmonella following the EU zoonoses directive.
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