June 21, 2006

One out of four poultry farms in Belgium have salmonella    

Around a quarter of Belgian poultry farms are contaminated with salmonella, higher than the European Union (EU) average, the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported on Tuesday (Jun 20).

The rate is higher than the EU average of 20.3 percent while just 7.9 percent of Dutch farms are infected.

Belgium's Federal Food Agency said it had intensified the battle against salmonella in recent years.

The country has a voluntary vaccination programme in farms, still over 10,000 salmonella poisoning cases among humans are reported each year in the country.

There may be compulsory vaccination in the future. However, experts said vaccination does not provide full immunity.

Salmonella cases normally involved undercooked meat from poultry and some strains may cause typhoid fever.