Division 2 Disease surveillance programmeF1

Serological and/or bacteriological tests must be used to determine whether an infection is present ^f1 .

Samples for testing must be taken, as appropriate, from blood, embryos that fail to hatch (namely embryos dead-in-shell), second grade chicks, meconium, post mortem tissues, especially liver, spleen, ovary/oviduct and ileo-caecal junction ^f2 .

Direct enrichment in Selenite-cysteine broth for faecal/meconium and intestinal samples is to be used. Non-selective pre-enrichment followed by selective enrichment in soya based Rappaport-Vassiliadis (RVS) broth or Müller-Kauffmann Tetrathionate-novobiocin broth (MKTTn) may be used for samples (such as embryos dead-in-shell) where competing flora is expected to be minimal ^f3 , ^f4 .

When blood samples are taken from a flock for serological testing for Salmonella Pullorum and Salmonella Gallinarum or Salmonella arizonae , the prevalence of infection in the Member State concerned and its past incidence in the establishment must be allowed for in determining the number of samples to be taken. However, a statistically valid number of samples for serological and/or bacteriological testing to detect infection must always be taken.

Flocks must be inspected during each laying period at the best time for detecting the disease in question.

Samples for bacteriological testing must not be taken from poultry or eggs that have been treated with antimicrobial medicinal products during the 2 to 3 weeks prior to testing.

Detection techniques must be capable of differentiating serological responses to Salmonella Pullorum and Salmonella Gallinarum infection from serological responses due to the use of Salmonella Enteritidis vaccine, where this vaccine is used ^f5 . Such vaccination must therefore not be used if serological monitoring is to be used. If vaccination has been used, bacteriological testing must be used, but the confirmation method used must be capable of differentiating live vaccinal strains from field strains.