HC Deb 14 October 1991 vol 196 cc92-3W
Mr. Andrew Welsh

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been undertaken of the degree to which poultry flocks can be entirely free of salmonella bacteria, and on the level of presence of salmonella which may reasonably be tolerated.

Mr. Maclean

MAFF is currently undertaking research to reduce the incidence and spread of salmonella in poultry by the development of vaccines and improved methods for its detection. Research is also in progress to determine the factors responsible for causing disease.

Mr. Andrew Welsh

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give figures showing the incidence of reported cases of salmonella in live poultry in each of the last five years.

Mr. Maclean

Separate figures for isolations of salmonella from live poultry are not available. The number of incidents of salmonella in poultry1 reported under the Zoonoses Order 1975 and the Zoonoses Order 1989 in the calendar years 1986 to 1990 were as follows:

Year Number of reported isolations
1986 838
1987 692
1988 1,162
Year Number of reported isolations
1989 1,926
1990 2,842
1 Poultry comprises: domestic fowls, turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, pheasants, partridges, quail and pigeons. Samples submitted for testing can include poultry carcases and cloacal swabs or faeces from live poultry.

Mr. Andrew Welsh

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has received regarding ovarian transmission of salmonella; and from where.

Mr. Maclean

Salmonella enteritidis has been isolated from the ovaries of many birds which have been exposed to natural or experimental infection. A number of published papers have reported the isolation of S. enteriditis from eggs. S. enteriditis was recovered from the yolk of eggs in the USA by Timoney and others "(1989) Veterinary Record,125 600–601". In the United Kingdom there is published work by Humphrey and others "(1989) Epidemiology and Infection 103, 415" and Humphrey and others "(1991) Epidemiology and Infection 106, 489–496".