March 20, 2009
More Finnish farms hit by salmonella
Finnish Food Safety Authority, EVIRA, has announced that the bacteria has been found on two more poultry farms and a pig farm, bringing to the total number of farms infected to 13 since February, 2009.
EVIRA official Sinikka Marmo said the current situation is that around 800 Finnish farms are being investigated, of which one-third are chicken farms, and two-thirds are pig farms.
EVIRA is continuing to identify the source of the outbreak which first came to light when feed producer Raisio Feed Ltd reported finding the bacteria in one of its production lines.
The company is carrying out its own investigations into the origins of the contaminated feed.
Finnish authorities are dealing with the country's worst salmonella outbreak in 14 years as new cases are found on pork and poultry farms.
The outbreak is the most widespread since 1995, when the bacterium was found at 250 of out 900 beef farms investigated.
