Brussels flags bio-security risks in poultry farms

The absence of pest-proof doors, high grass and trees growing around poultry farms, and material stored against the walls of poultry farms, which could attract rodents, are among the bio-security deficiencies flagged in an inspection by the European Commission’s Food Veterinary Organisation (FVO) in an audit carried out last January.

The report issued this week by the FVO claims that many of these shortcomings had not been identified or recorded by the official staff responsible for monitoring these farms. 

In other cases, some shortcomings, which had been recorded by officials during inspections, were still present at the time of the FVO visits. 

One recurring shortcoming was the absence of records of when pest control was carried out in the respective farms. Although this problem was repeatedly recorded for the past few years no action was taken to rectify the situation. 

In fact similar shortcomings related to bio-security had been noted during the previous FVO audit in 2013.

To address these shortcomings the Maltese government committed itself to ensure official controls to be carried out over a 12-month period on poultry holdings, with a priority being given to farms, which tested positively for salmonella in the past. 

The report also reveals that when the supply of water to poultry farms is derived from private boreholes, the analysis to ensure water quality is performed by the operator of the farm on a “voluntary basis”. 

The report reveals that during a visit to a farm using well water, the results of the water quality analysis were not made available to the audit team. 

In reply to the report, the government has now amended the bio-security checklist to include the type of water used (municipal or borehole) and a certificate of analysis will from now be requested whenever water derived from wells or boreholes is used.

Shortcomings were also found with regard to disinfecting farms where there were salmonella outbreaks.

EU directives and Maltese law stipulate that the operator should carry out an effective cleaning and disinfection immediately after a positive flock is exterminated. The audit team was informed by the Maltese authorities that the effectiveness of such cleaning and disinfection must be verified by official environmental samples.

However, in two broiler holdings visited this procedure was not followed as permission for restocking was granted by the Maltese authorities although such samples had not been taken.

In all salmonella-positive cases reviewed by the audit team, the Maltese authorities performed no epidemiological investigation in order to identify the possible source of initial salmonella contamination. 

In one of the holdings visited some flocks were sampled for salmonella more than three weeks prior to the date of slaughter. In another farm visited not all flocks sent to slaughter were sampled. 

The report noted an improvement in the implementation of EU directives since the last audit carried out in 2013, which dealt with the same theme. But some of the shortcomings in salmonella control detected in the previous FVO audit were noted again and new ones have been identified.