My Department was informed of an outbreak of salmonella gallinarum (Fowl Typhoid) in a table egg laying flock in County Fermanagh. A second outbreak in an adjacent breeding flock was subsequently advised. We have been advised that both flocks have been depopulated. It has also been confirmed that there have been no imports of hatching eggs or day old chicks originating from the breeding flock. This disease has never been recorded in the State.
Fowl typhoid is specific to poultry and is not regarded as a zoonotic disease (it is not communicable to humans) or a food safety risk. Chickens are the most commonly affected species, but the disease can also infect turkeys, game birds, guinea fowls, sparrows, and pet birds.
My Department has ongoing monitoring and contact with the relevant stakeholders in Northern Ireland, including officials in Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland. Under the Poultry Health Programme, my Department tests all breeding flocks for fowl typhoid at movement and point of lay. In addition poultry for further production are tested prior to export. If fowl typhoid is suspected in a poultry farm that is approved for trade, approval will be suspended, and no further trade in poultry or hatching eggs originating from the farm can take place. Approval will be withdrawn if fowl typhoid is confirmed. It is obligatory to notify any suspicion of fowl typhoid to my Department. An information leaflet on fowl typhoid has been posted to my Department’s website and is available at www.agriculture.gov.ie. This is in addition to the brochure on Biosecurity Information for Registered Poultry Flock Owners also on the website. The industry and all stakeholders are advised to take all appropriate biosecurity measures. My Department is currently investigating whether manure from this farm has been used in this jurisdiction.
