Eurosurveillance, Volume
13, Issue
20,
15 May 2008
News
EFSA publishes survey on prevalence of Salmonella in turkey flocks in the European Union, 2006-2007
Editorial team (
)
1
- Eurosurveillance, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden
Citation style for this article: Editorial team. EFSA publishes survey on prevalence of Salmonella in turkey flocks in the European Union, 2006-2007
. Euro Surveill. 2008;13(20):pii=18873. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=18873
Date of submission:
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a survey on Salmonella levels detected on commercial turkey farms across the European Union (EU) [1]. A total of 539 breeding turkey flocks and 3,769 fattening turkey flocks with validated results, from the EU and Norway, were included in the survey analyses: the sampling took place between October 2006 and September 2007. The full range of Salmonella types were estimated on average to be present in 30.7% of turkey flocks reared for human consumption and in 13.6% of turkey flocks kept for breeding purposes. Among the full range of Salmonella types, Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium (the two Salmonella types responsible for the majority of Salmonella-related food infections in humans) were detected in 3.8% of flocks reared for human consumption and in 1.7% of breeding flocks.
Salmonella is the second most reported cause of food-borne diseases in humans in Europe. Infections can range from a mild to severe gastroenteritis and in some vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly can be fatal.
References
1. Report of the Task Force on Zoonoses Data Collection on the Analysis of the baseline survey on the prevalence of Salmonella in turkey flocks, in the EU, 2006-2007 - Part A: Salmonella prevalence estimates. 28 April 2008. Available from: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178706574172.htm
