Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 February 2023
902. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of salmonella outbreaks in each relevant county detected in 2023 to date; his Department’s response to these outbreaks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6826/23]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, as of 9th February 2023, 10 poultry flocks have been confirmed as positive for Salmonella Typhimurium and the number in each relevant county is listed below. For GDPR reasons where there are less than 5 flocks affected in a county, then the figure given is “<5”.
|
County |
No. Outbreaks |
|
Cork |
< 5 |
|
Kilkenny |
< 5 |
|
Limerick |
< 5 |
|
Mayo |
< 5 |
|
Monaghan |
< 5 |
Fig. 1 No. Outbreaks per County 1st January 2023 to 9th February 2023
These flocks have all been depopulated by the owner and appropriate measures taken for public health reasons.
A National Salmonella Control Programme in poultry operates on an ongoing basis which includes regular sampling by the Department and farmers at multiple points during the stages of the poultry production cycle. This outbreak was identified because of surveillance under this Salmonella Control Programme, demonstrating its effectiveness.
My Department continues to work closely with the various food business stakeholders, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and the National Reference Laboratory in order to determine the cause of the outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium and to mitigate risks of further outbreaks. This complex investigation is ongoing and involves very significant amounts of sampling and testing, including official sampling carried out by my Department and private sampling carried out by the company.
