Farmers dogged by salmonella suspicions as egg mountains are growing

Infection found at 12 poultry farms and one pig farm

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Salmonella has already been discovered at 12 egg-producing farms and one pig farm in Finland. The source of the infection is believed to be contaminated feed delivered to farms.
      ”An official sample from our farm is being analysed in a laboratory”, said Pekka Saarinen, the fretting owner of 3,200 layer chickens on Wednesday.
      The sample from the farm in Loimaa was taken on Monday, and on Tuesday it was sent forward, while it will take another four to five days to get the final results.
     
Every day, all eggs are collected at the farm, placed in eggboxes, and stocked in containers which are kept in a cold store. The number of eggs laid in one day is some 80 per cent of the number of chickens.
      At present the number of eggs in the cold store is more than 17,000, and another container will be coming in by Thursday, in other words another 4,300 eggs.
      ”This is not what we hoped for, as we have been facing many other challenges, including for example an overproduction of eggs. Moreover, an EU Directive will ban the conventional cages from the beginning of 2012”, notes Saarinen, worrying about the difficulties in the branch.
     
”It is not known for sure yet from where the salmonella bacteria have ended up in feed, but it is true that fodder has to be imported from abroad, as everything must be bought so cheaply”, Saarinen argues.
      ”It is not profitable to produce protein-enriched feed in Finland, including turnip mustard, broad bean, or pea, as the crops are small and all grants for farmers are constantly declining”, Saarinen adds.
     
For hygienic reasons and because of the risk of infection, no visitors are allowed to enter Saarinen’s chicken farm. The person who is mainly caring for the chickens is Saarinen’s wife. The husband and their son help, while no employees have been hired from outside the farm.
      ”We cannot help thinking about this all the time. We men are better able to cope with the situation, but my wife is taking it hard. We feel as if the disease had already hit the house, even though we are just under suspicion”, Saarinen reports.
      ”I do not know what will happen if salmonella is found at our farm. What about compensation? Is anybody prepared to pay damages? We will have to dispose of our chickens and it will take 20 weeks before the new chickens start laying eggs. We expect that the authorities will advise us what to do. Now we just keep hoping that no infection would be found on the farm”, Saarinen contemplates glumly.
     
”As late as last Monday, we were informed that our latest salmonella samples had been negative. In general, such samples are taken every 15 weeks, but now official feed and egg samples are taken on all farms that have received salmonella-contaminated feed”, Saarinen continues.
      ”The question is, whether or not all work that has been done over decades has been wasted. Our late parents set up this farm in the 1970s, and we took it over in 1988. Even our son has been eager to help at the farm after school”, Saarinen reports.
     
The Finnish Food Safety Authority EVIRA reported on Wednesday that salmonella has been found on one pig farm in Southern Ostrobothnia. The bacteria were found in the pig feed from the Rehuraisio Oy (Raisio Feed Ltd.) factory in Raisio a week ago.
      On Wednesday, the number of salmonella-affected poultry farms stood at 12. A total of 770 Finnish farms are being examined on account of salmonella suspicions.
      Eggs and pork will not be heading to the shops before the producer-farms have received a clean bill of health from the authorities.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Salmonella found on pig farm in Central Ostrobothnia (18.3.2009)
  Number of salmonella-affected poultry farms rises to nine (17.3.2009)
  Investigation of egg farm salmonella incident could take weeks (9.3.2009)

Links:
  The Finnish Food Safety Authority EVIRA

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