Warning on salmonella increase in Republic

There are strong indications the Republic could follow Britain where salmonella cases are now "out of control", according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. The warning came yesterday after official British figures confirmed a sharp increase in cases during 1997.

Increases in confirmed UK cases of Salmonella enteritidis, which is associated with poultry, are of particular concern, the FSAI said. The release of the figures coincided with confirmation of a drop in egg consumption in the Republic, though the authority stressed Irish eggs were safe to eat if properly cooked.

While the number of Irish cases during 1997 for this particular salmonella strain showed a much smaller level compared to Britain, there were indications the Republic was exactly matching increase patterns in England and Wales from the mid 1980s. If unchecked, the Republic was likely to follow recent British trends, said FSAI chief executive Dr Patrick Wall - the bacterium was implicated in many Irish salmonella cases this summer.

The figures for Salmonella enteritidis last year in England/ Wales - at just under 25,000 confirmed cases - represented a rate of about 400 per million of population. Eight times as many people were diagnosed with the infection compared to the Republic - there were 196 cases in the Republic, a rate of 54 per million, the FSAI said.

Dr Wall suggested salmonella cases were "out of control" in England/Wales, while the Irish position was redeemable "if managed with aggressive controls".

This salmonella type associated with poultry could infect a hen and pass straight into her eggs, he said.

"In this way it infects chickens coming from that hen. As a result the hens can become salmonella factories; a serious risk to human health. Many Irish people were diagnosed with this infection during 1997. Yet this is a preventable disease."

The Republic, he said, at least had a relatively low rate compared to elsewhere, and the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Irish egg industry were pursuing a rigorous control programme to ensure eggs are free of salmonella infection.

"Most other countries do not have the slaughter-out policy when cases arise in poultry flocks," he said. "The egg industry in Ireland, north and south, is responding to consumer demands for the safest eggs possible. Soon the Irish consumer will be able to purchase eggs labelled `sourced from salmonella-free stocks'."

He noted, however, the bacterium was also a problem in poultry meat, which could not be solved as easily. Effective controls with Irish poultry producers were achievable but the problem was compounded by importation of cheaper and inferior product from other EU and non-EU countries. "All of it comes from countries where the salmonella status is far inferior to that in Irish poultry flocks."

The FSAI was aware that increasing safety standards came at a cost, with a risk Irish produce could be made less competitive by increasing safety requirements. Allowing for EU restrictions on checking product from another EU country, a sampling strategy at distributor level was appropriate, he said.