Introduction

The Regulation 2160/ 2003 “ Control of Salmonella and Zoonotic agents” was devised to put in place common monitoring and reporting systems across all EU countries, and for each member state to develop and put in place a National Control Plan to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella in poultry and pigs. The National Control Plans had to be approved by the Commission, and the dates for their implementation was defined in the Regulation. The initial controls were placed at the top of the pyramid, with Grandparent flocks being the first to be controlled. Following this , the parent breeders and final production flocks were also controlled.

The timescale for the implementation of all controls was :

Population Type	Date For Setting	Date from which testing must take place
Breeding Flock	12.12.2003	12.06.2006
Laying Hens	12.12.2005	12.06.2007
Broiler Meat	12.12.2006	12.12.2008

The dates for target setting have drifted to some extent, and due to the different systems of monitoring across all EU countries there has been problems in ascertaining the actual target. This web site will not review all countries, but deal specifically with the situation in the UK where there has been extensive Salmonella controls in place in laying hens since the implementation of the 92/117/EEC Directive, and the development of the Lion Code quality control system.

The 2160/2003 Regulation defines the testing systems to be employed in the monitoring of Salmonella , and the type of samples required. The UK government has to develop a National Control Plan which will be put before the EU Commission in the early part of 2007. There will then be a period of time before testing will commence. It is likely that by the middle of 2008, all laying flocks will be tested to the National Control Plan, and flocks belonging to other assurance schemes such as the Lion code might require further testing over and above the NCP. The testing is still to be finalized, but will involve testing the environment as well as the bird.

Most of the UK egg layers are vaccinated against Salmonella enteritidis by either a live or killed vaccine administered to the bird in the rearing period. Testing of birds in lay has shown that the level of infection in birds is very low in the UK (about 8% positive to any salmonella) and certainly much lower than some other countries who import eggs into the UK. The vaccines, as long as they are given correctly will provide protection to the bird, and hence reduce the possibility of eggs being infected.

Salmonella can be carried by many species including rodents, wild birds, dogs cats and humans. The carrier animal is not necessarily clinically affected by this infection, and the bacteria often multiplies and is passed in the faeces. This increase the level of infection in the environment. The new NCP will test the environment as well as the bird. This environment sampling will not necessarily reflect in the risk of egg infection, and so is not directly correlated with the level of human infection from eggs. However, as the Regulations require environment testing , it will occur, and could have profound effects on laying farms.

If a sample is found to be positive in an official laboratory, it will be reported to the Government authority who will first confirm it is one of the defined salmonella species, and then carry out further tests to confirm it on the farm. If confirmed, the farm will not be able to supply eggs for human consumption unless they have been treated in a manner to kill any salmonella infection. This will usually involve heat treatment. The date for the implementation of this heat treatment requirement is likely to be 2009.