Major concerns for Salmonella outbreak after it’s found in eight poultry flocks around the country – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Major concerns for Salmonella outbreak after it’s found in eight poultry flocks around the country




The Department of Agriculture is investigating a number of Salmonella infections on poultry farms across the country.

Salmonella is a bacterium considered to be a public health risk and therefore the detection of the infection in poultry farms is taken very seriously by the authorities.

The Agriculture Ministry confirmed that Salmonella had been found in eight poultry farms.

Some of the affected farms are believed to be in the Co Cavan area.

Detection of the disease means that all birds on the eight farms will be culled and none will enter the food chain. Some farms are already culling.

Cases of Salmonella were discovered following routine checks, which always take place before the chickens are sent for processing. Further testing is ongoing due to the Salmonella discovery and scare in the last week.

Salmonella is a public health problem and can cause serious illness, although some infected individuals suffer only from mild illness.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said people infected with Salmonella typically develop symptoms between 12 and 36 hours after infection, but this can be anywhere between six and 72 hours.

The most common symptom is diarrhea, which can sometimes be bloody.

Other symptoms may include fever, headache and abdominal cramps.

The disease usually lasts 4-7 days.

Diarrhea can occasionally be severe enough to require hospitalization. Older people, infants, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have serious illnesses.

Séamus Fanning, professor of food safety and director of UCD’s Center for Food Safety, said he had confidence in the food chain in relation to the Salmonella outbreak.

“There are a number of production sites and farms involved and it raises the question of where this comes from, which is important to address,” he said, reports RTE.

He said the department will use a similar approach to Covid-19 to identify the type of Salmonella involved and make detailed comparisons between outbreak sites to establish sequencing to track and trace the virus.

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