The UK poultry industry must adapt its salmonella control strategies as laying cycles extend, industry experts have warned, despite the sector’s “remarkable” success in reducing disease levels over the past three decades.
Speaking during a recent technical webinar, poultry veterinarian Ian Lowery from Crowshall Veterinary Practice, said the industry’s response to the 1988 egg safety crisis had driven lasting change. The episode, which saw consumer confidence collapse, exposed “a notable salmonella problem within the sector,” he said.
Since then, however, coordinated action has delivered dramatic improvements. The result is a sector now recognised as one of the safest in Europe. UK egg production has “the second lowest level of reportable salmonella detection in the EU,” Lowery noted, adding that this has secured both domestic and international confidence in British eggs.
But the shift towards longer production cycles is changing the approach. Where flocks were once typically depleted at around 72 weeks, many are now kept to 80 or even 90 weeks, with 100 weeks “just around the corner”.
“With age comes risk,” Lowery said, even though he stressed there is currently no evidence of rising salmonella incidence. “The sector is doing a really, really good job… but we haven’t forgotten the lessons of 1988.”
Joshua Davidson, technical consultant at Elanco Animal Nutrition, said vaccine development is evolving in response. He highlighted a new approach that extends immunity later into the laying cycle, addressing what he described as a gap between bird longevity and vaccine protection.
“The licensed duration of immunity… hasn’t kept up with how long those hens are living,” Davidson said. A fourth vaccination of AviPro at around 50 weeks can now extend protection to as long as 100 weeks, helping “maximise that coverage of immunity for as long as possible”.
He added that the system is designed to minimise disruption on farm, with “zero-day egg withdrawal” and no production losses following administration.
While cost pressures remain front of mind for producers, Davidson argued the investment is modest in context. “One dose per bird is… less than half the price of an egg at the farm gate,” he said.