Fermy Drobiu Woźniak: Our test results are clear
Fermy Drobiu Woźniak (Wozniak Poultry Farms) said the withdrawal of eggs from the market was of a ‘preventive nature’ and associated with the RASFF alert.
It added testing by an accredited laboratory on samples taken on 28 October did not show the presence of Salmonella in eggs.
Identifying potentially affected eggs
The Polish-based firm said tests were in the poultry houses specified in the RASFF alert.
However, Głównego Lekarza Weterynarii (chief veterinary officer) in Poland said Salmonella enteritidis had been found in three flocks of laying hens.
Between May and October, 112 confirmed and 148 probable S. enteritidis cases were reported, said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK have reported outbreak cases and nine are associated with travel to Hungary or Poland.
Fermy Drobiu Woźniak said last week that eggs stamped with 3PL30221321 and 3PL30221304 were withdrawn despite product batches being tested and no bacteria being found.
The firm added it was in contact with trading partners and was finalizing withdrawal from the market.
Eggs were distributed directly or indirectly to Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania and UK but other countries, such as Hong Kong, said they have been affected.
Głównego Lekarza Weterynarii said eggs marked with 3PL30221320 are also involved but the company said they did not go to trade so are not on the domestic or market abroad.
Both parties emphasised the heat treatment of eggs kills Salmonella.
Investigation progress
A five-year old child died in Croatia and epidemiological evidence showed it was related to home-consumed food and the family had eaten eggs bought in a retail chain.
Sampling of eggs from the implicated Polish packing centre in the Netherlands yielded positive results for S. enteritidis contamination in October.
The outbreak of S. Enteritidis phage type (PT) 8 has multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) profiles 2-9-7-3-2 and 2-9-6-3-2.
Whole genome sequencing (WGS) has shown isolates are part of two distinct but related genetic clusters.
ECDC and EFSA said contaminated products could have been distributed to EU countries on multiple occasions between May 2015 and October 2016.
It is also possible the multi-country outbreak is associated with one or more common sources persisting in the region since at least 2012, added the agencies.
