A case of salmonella has been uncovered during sampling at Joice and Hill’s Peterborough hatchery, causing disruption to UK chick supplies.
The company said chick lines from its hatch on 26 March and supplied to one of its customers returned a positive for Group B salmonella, with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) confirming the sample as S. typhimurium.
“Since this supply date, a number of customer and retained samples from hatcher tray liners have shown positive results and are awaiting formal serotyping from Weybridge,” explained Nick Bailey, managing director at Joice and Hill.
APHA has placed Joice and Hill under official restrictions while investigations continue, with all parties working towards resolving the situation as quickly and safely and practically possible. The situation is regarded as being in part contained through the National Salmonella Control Programme, which has enabled rapid tracing and intervention following the initial detections.
Extensive sampling
In a statement, Joice and Hill said: “Joice and Hill have done extensive rounds of sampling since the first suspicion but have yet to isolate salmonella from any supply flocks or their environment. Hatchery sampling has returned one positive from 300 samples taken and this was in a non-production area.
“We are working hard with APHA and our veterinary consultants to identify the source and have pulled hatching eggs from certain flocks that have a level of suspicion due to the pattern of positives. We have also increased our levels of cleaning and disinfection at the hatchery to address any potential recycling of infection between hatches.”
Bailey urged customers receiving chicks from the business since 26 March to pay special attention to biosecurity to prevent any possible forward contamination and contact veterinary consultants over further steps.
“The level of infection is very low, as witnessed by our failure to find any salmonella from our supply farms despite multiple rounds of extensive testing,” he continued. “Hatchery testing shows that our C&D between hatches is working. We are confident that we can eradicate this issue.”
Orders unfulfilled
The hatchery is currently under restriction and in a period of deep cleaning and disinfection, Joice and Hill said, and the company is working with APHA on its reopening. “Unfortunately, this restriction means that any orders scheduled for delivery within the next two weeks will not be fulfilled,” it added.
“We recognise the impact this will have and sincerely apologise for the disruption to the sector. We are confident that our hatchery team can address the issue and that we can re-commence supply within a short timeframe. To date, only production for this week and next has been removed and we are poised to resume supply as and when test results permit.”
The British Free Range Egg Producers Association noted that with the egg market already tight, the developing situation may affect some producers who have scheduled pullet deliveries from rearers in three to four months’ time. Producers in this situation should speak to their rearer and/or packer to discuss further, the trade body added.
Bailey, who underlined the company’s high level of testing and biosecurity, added: “This really is an unprecedented situation, and we apologise to customers affected by this. Joice and Hill take the health status of our operation very seriously and this is the first time in my 30-year career that this has happened.”