Report Finds High Health Status of UK Breeding Poultry

UK - The British Poultry Council and the British Egg Industry Council have together published a summary of information concerning health schemes and freedom from disease in the UK poultry breeding industry.
calendar icon 30 June 2014
clock icon 3 minute read

According to the report - British Poultry Health Standards in the United Kingdom - the UK poultry primary breeding companies enjoy a very good health status.

Breeding farms and hatcheries are all members of government supervised health schemes, which comply with OIE and EU standards. Flocks must be routinely tested for vertically transmissible Salmonellas and Mycoplasmas which are pathogenic for poultry (depending on the species), and premises are regularly inspected by official veterinarians.

Breeding chicken and turkey flocks are subject to EU and UK legislation to identify and eliminate
zoonotic Salmonella species, and in particular S.enteritidis and S.typhimurium.

The notifiable poultry diseases, avian influenza and Newcastle disease are permanently monitored by both active and passive surveillance. The results indicate that neither of these diseases are endemic in the UK, but they may be introduced occasionally and sporadically, probably by migrating wild waterfowl. The UK follows EU legislation for the control and eradication of occasional outbreaks.

Following OIE and EU principles, the UK has established a scheme for avian influenza and Newcastle disease free Compartments. In accordance with the OIE Code the UK authorities will seek to reach agreement with importing countries to accept exports from zones or compartments that are free from both these diseases, at times when there may be an isolated and controlled outbreak in another part of the country.

All exports of hatching eggs and live poultry are accompanied by an official veterinary health certificate. The UK makes strenuous efforts to make sure that these certificates are accurate and reliable, and the measures to achieve this are described in the report.

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