Salmonella found at one quarter of layer hen farms in Belgium

BELGIUM - Around a quarter of Belgian lating hen farms are contaminated with salmonella, higher than the European Union (EU) average and three times the rate recorded in the Netherlands, the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported on Tuesday.

Around 26 percent of the major commercial layer farms in Belgium were infected with the virus, the newspaper said.

The rate is higher than the EU average of 20.3 percent. Just 7.9 percent of Dutch farms are infected.

Belgium's Federal Food Agency was aware of the problem, but said it had intensified the battle against salmonella in recent years.

"We currently have a voluntary vaccination program against salmonella in farms," a spokesman for the agency was quoted as saying.

Source: Peoples Daily

21 June 2006