Salmonella could spread through contaminated trucks to consignments of other feed factories

Bacteria discovered on second pig farm

print this

The ongoing salmonella scandal in Finland is getting worse. On Thursday, salmonella was discovered on a second pig farm, while the existence of bacteria had already earlier been confirmed at 12 egg-producing farms and one pig farm.
      The source of the salmonella infection is believed to be the same in all cases, namely a contaminated batch of feed from Raisio Feed Ltd.
     
At the same time, it has emerged that salmonella could also have spread from Raisio Feed to the consignments of other factories, as the same trucks are used to transport products from several factories, and the tanks are not cleaned after each shipment.
      Hence salmonella-contaminated feed could have been mixed with clean fodder.
      The salmonella-affected farms are facing massive and expensive disinfection operations.
     
At a modern automatised poultry farm with 100,000 layer chickens in Loimaa, clean-up operations are already under way. Owner Simo Pietilä, 50, estimates that the procedures will take at least six months.
      On Thursday a total of 14 people were in the process of cleaning the egg-laying pens and a coop for raising chicks, after all poultry had been disposed of.
      Pietilä’s chicken farm is one of the largest poultry yards in Finland, and it has been run by the family since 1721. Never before have they experienced anything like the current salmonella infection.
     
In addition to the disinfection of the hen house itself, the massive sanitation operations at the farm include the dismantling of all silos, as well as some other operations in the surroundings.
      Pietilä’s egg store contains some 15,000 kilos of eggs, which have been found clean.
      ”It is good that salmonella is kept in check in Finland, and all eggs and chickens are examined. But when something like this happens, the price is high”, Pietilä notes.
      ”If you eat a raw egg while holidaying in the south, you will get a stomach ache, that’s for sure. And yet a salmonella species like this is hardly even noted in many countries”, Pietilä argues.
     
Salmonella was discovered at Pietilä’s poultry farm three weeks ago, when one of the routine samples contained bacteria.
      The gassing of all chickens took more than one week. New chicks can be brought in only after all premises and equipment have been disinfected, inspected, and found clean.
      The overall financial consequences of the current salmonella scandal are not known as yet. In any case, Raisio Feed’s insurance will pay for damages, including compensation for loss of production and livestock and the costs of disinfecting the premises.
      Moreover, Raisio Feed Ltd. will provide farms with new feed consignments to replace the faulty ones.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Farmers dogged by salmonella suspicions as egg mountains are growing (19.3.2009)
  Salmonella found on pig farm in Central Ostrobothnia (18.3.2009)

Links:
  Finnish Food Safety Authority EVIRA

Helsingin Sanomat