Updated: We updated TNP: IED RTA1 Form.
Use these forms to comply with the TNP trading scheme. They are for use by appropriate regulatory authority staff and operators of large combustion plants.
Guidance for the TNP is available on request. Email tnphelp@environment-agency.gov.uk.
See the TNP quarterly registers to help you find an operator to trade with.
Updated: Updated TNP register 2018: quarter 2.
The TNP is issued by Defra in accordance with Article 32 of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and associated guidance.
The IED sets minimum limits for emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust to the air from large combustion plants with a thermal rating equal to or greater than 50 megawatts.
The TNP scheme allows large combustion plants first licensed before 27 November 2002 to trade their annual allowances for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter (dust) with other large combustion plants within the TNP scheme.
The TNP register is maintained by the Environment Agency on behalf of the 4 UK regulators:
Updated: Sampling instructions and confirmatory testing details updated. References to DARD changed to DAERA.
Testing is part of the national control programme (NCP) for salmonella. The NCP aims to control salmonella in poultry flocks across the EU.
You must take samples if you produce eggs on a commercial basis.
You’ll be prosecuted or fined if you do not get your egg-laying hens tested as described in this guide. A fine can range from £100 to £4,500.
Your flock does not need testing if one of the following apply:
You must send samples for testing to a UK approved laboratory. Choose from:
A flock is a group of birds that shares the same air space, for example a chicken house or range area.
If you need help working out how many flocks you have, you can ask for advice from:
You need to decide how many flocks you keep, so you collect all the samples you must take. If your birds form one flock, they’ll all be treated as belonging to a positive flock if sampling gives a positive result. Your decision about whether you have one or more flocks could affect how official disease controls affect your business for certain salmonella results.
You must register each premises where you keep your flocks on:
Avoid taking samples during or shortly after giving antimicrobials (antibiotics) that affect salmonella. APHA or DAERA could declare your flock positive for salmonella if either of the following apply:
Contact one of the following for guidance on when to test after giving antibiotics:
Do not collect samples unless your approved laboratory can start testing them within 96 hours (4 days) of you taking the samples. Make sure it can test your samples within 96 hours of taking them if you post them. You may have problems if it receives them on a Thursday, Friday or public holiday.
You’ll need to collect more samples if they’re delayed in the post, or the laboratory cannot start testing within 96 hours.
You need to buy your own sampling equipment. Contact one of the following to find out where you can buy the equipment you need:
You’ll also have to pay laboratory charges for:
You must take samples at all of the following times:
You must send the following for laboratory testing on the day of arrival:
You must take samples from the pullets (young hens, also called rearing hens) 2 weeks before you move them to the laying unit. You can choose either of these types of samples:
You must sample your adult breeding flocks at least every 15 weeks during the laying period. This is known as operator sampling. An official sample can replace an operator sample.
You’ll need to take different kinds of samples in different ways depending on your situation.
You must start to take samples from adult egg-laying hens in the layer unit or house when they’re between 22 and 26 weeks old.
You must use one of these types of samples:
Take samples in the existing bedding – do not put new bedding down.
Gather all the equipment you’ll need before you go into the laying house to prevent contamination. Take care to avoid contamination if you keep other animals (especially pigs or cattle) on your premises.
To prevent disinfectant or sanitiser affecting your sample, you:
If you wear plastic overboots when you walk through disinfectant, you should put on another pair afterwards to protect the boot swabs from the disinfectant.
You must use boot swabs (fabric overshoes) to collect samples from barn or free-range pullets and hens.
See Pay for samples and tests to find out how to get the equipment you need.
You should use:
Follow these instructions.
You must collect faeces samples from caged birds. You should gather all the equipment you’re going to need before you go into the laying house, to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling.
A suitable location to collect samples would be the scrapers at the discharge ends of each of the droppings belts. Make sure belts or scrapers are run on the day of sampling so you collect fresh material. You should do this before you take the samples. Where there is no scraper on the end of the belt that accumulates faeces, you should use large fabric swabs to swab the discharge ends of belts after they are run. You should collect faeces from belts or scrapers from all rows and tiers of cages.
If there are no belts, you must collect samples using gloved hands, inverted bags, or spatulas from cages or from across the whole area of the droppings pit. If you collect composite faeces from droppings pits, then collect at least 20 pinches of fresh surface material from each row of manure. Make sure the material you collect is representative of the whole house.
See Pay for samples and tests to find out how to get the equipment you need.
You should use:
You should gather all the equipment you’re going to need before you go into the laying house, to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling.
Run the droppings belts or scrapers on the day of sampling to make sure you collect fresh material.
You should collect pooled faeces from places such as the scrapers at the discharge ends of each of the droppings belts. Use any of the following:
Collect faeces from the belts or scrapers on every row and tier of the cages so the samples are representative.
If there’s not a scraper on the end of the belt that gathers faeces, use a large fabric swab. Rub this over the discharge ends of the belts after you’ve run them to collect fresh faeces. This exposes new areas of belting at the discharge end so that you can take more representative faeces samples.
Collect 2 samples, each of at least 150g of faeces from the droppings pits. Make sure the overall pooled faeces samples represent each stack of cages. You must collect faeces from throughout the pit. You can collect samples using disposable plastic gloves, inverted bags, or spatulas. If you collect composite faeces from droppings pits, then collect at least 20 pinches of fresh surface material from each row of manure. Make sure the material you collect is representative of the whole house.
You must collect one sample from pullets and 2 samples from adult birds. Each sample must weigh 150g. Place the samples in a pot or sealable bag to send to the laboratory. If each sample weighs less than 150g, the laboratory will not carry out the testing and you’ll have to send more samples.
You must label each sample. On each label, you must include:
You should send your samples on the day you collect them. Refrigerate your samples at 2 to 8°C if you cannot send them on that same day. You must not freeze samples.
Make sure the laboratory can start testing your samples within 96 hours of sampling. You’ll need to send more samples if your samples are delayed, or the laboratory cannot meet the testing deadline.
You must send your samples to laboratories approved by either:
You need to contact APHA or DAERA at least 2 weeks before you move birds to the laying unit and give the dates when:
To tell APHA, contact:
Customer Service Centre: One Health Worcester
Email: csconehealthgeneral@apha.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Fax: 01905 768 649
Worcestershire County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP
Officials will take samples once a year if you keep more than 1,000 birds on your premises. In Northern Ireland, officials from DAERA take samples. In England, Scotland and Wales, official samples may be taken by an:
You’ll be charged for these visits. An official sample can replace an operator sample. See official sampling fees for England, Scotland and Wales. Contact DAERA for details of fees in Northern Ireland.
Officials from APHA or DAERA may also take samples in these situations:
You will not have to pay for an official control sample in these cases.
The laboratory usually sends the results to:
Use this section to understand the actions and restrictions that could apply to your flocks and premises.
APHA or DAERA will assess positive tests for non-vaccine strain Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium (including monophasic Salmonella typhimurium). Contact APHA or DAERA if you have evidence suggesting contamination of the original sample.
If APHA or DAERA suspects the original result is a false positive, they’ll collect official confirmatory samples to confirm the presence of:
APHA or DAERA will also take 5 carcases and store their organs when they collect confirmatory samples. These may be used to test for the presence of antibiotics if the confirmatory test is negative.
You must not sell your eggs from that flock as Class A. The flock will be put under a legal restriction which will prohibit the sale of their eggs as Class A eggs. If official confirmatory sampling on your flock does not confirm the initial positive result, then you can sell the flock’s eggs as Class A.
If you wish to sell your eggs as Class B, you must mark them in one of the following 2 ways:
Egg marketing inspectors will visit your premises to check you’re complying with the restrictions.
You can ask for more tests, at your own cost if you think a positive test result is false. This test must be done within 4 weeks of the APHA laboratory reporting the positive sample. You must contact either of the following for more information about this type of retesting or to get these tests arranged:
Email: csconehealthgeneral@apha.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Fax: 01905 768 649
Worcestershire County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP
APHA or DAERA will arrange for an official to supervise the collection of any one of the following samples for testing:
You can only get restrictions lifted, and sell eggs from the flock as Class A eggs if the samples test negative.
Once APHA or DAERA identifies at least one flock as positive, their officials will take samples from every other flock on your premises.
Officials will also visit and sample when a new flock is placed in the house where the last flock had a positive test result. They’ll take this official control sample when the birds are between 22 and 26 weeks old.
A government vet will also visit your premises to give advice on salmonella control. In Northern Ireland contact DAERA or your private vet for advice.
You will not have to pay for:
If a sample from your rearing flock tests positive for a regulated salmonella, officials may visit your farm to confirm the result and offer advice.
You should get advice on how to control the infection from one of these sources if your flock tests positive for other types of salmonella:
You must keep all your records for at least 2 years. Officials may check them at any time.
You must record all of the following each time you take samples:
You need to record any movement of birds to or from your holding. For each movement record the:
You must declare the:
You must do this in the FCI documents you send to the abattoir for your flock.
If you plan to market meat from your birds as fresh meat, you must declare if this flock had an earlier positive NCP test result. You must do this even if the most recent NCP test was negative. You must declare all previous NCP salmonella positive results.
The FCI is a legal requirement. Birds may not be slaughtered for human consumption without this information. If the birds are culled on farm and disposed of as animal by-products, you do not need to provide FCI.
If you need more advice, contact APHA or DAERA.
You can also read the
, which provides best practice for preventing salmonella.
Updated: Sampling instructions and confirmatory testing details updated. References to DARD changed to DAERA.
Testing is part of the national control programme (NCP) for salmonella. The NCP aims to control salmonella in poultry flocks across the EU.
If you keep breeding chickens, you must take samples for testing if you have 250 or more birds.
You’re breaking the law if you do not follow these rules.
Your flock does not need testing if either of the following apply:
You must send samples for testing to a UK approved laboratory. Choose from:
You must sample each of your flocks. A flock is a group of birds that shares the same air space, for example a chicken house or range.
If you need help working out how many flocks you have, you can ask for advice from:
You need to decide how many flocks you keep, so you collect all the samples you must take. If your birds form one flock, they’ll all be treated as belonging to a positive flock if sampling gives a positive result. Your decision about whether you have one or more flocks could affect how official disease controls affect your business for certain salmonella results.
You must register each premises where you keep your flocks on:
You must register your hatchery if it can incubate 1,000 or more eggs. You must also state which species of poultry will be hatched at your hatchery. If the species you hatch changes, you must tell the organisation which holds your registration details.
Avoid taking samples during or shortly after giving antimicrobials (antibiotics) that affect salmonella. APHA or DAERA could declare your flock positive for salmonella if either of the following apply:
Contact one of the following for guidance on when to test after giving antibiotics:
Do not collect samples unless your approved laboratory can start testing them within 96 hours (4 days) of you taking the samples. Make sure it can test your samples within 96 hours of taking them if you post them. You may have problems if it receives them on a Thursday, Friday or public holiday.
You’ll need to collect more samples if they’re delayed in the post, or the laboratory cannot start testing within 96 hours.
You need to buy your own sampling equipment. Contact one of the following to find out where you can buy the equipment you need:
You’ll also have to pay laboratory charges for:
Contact DAERA for details of fees in Northern Ireland.
You must take samples at all of the following times:
You must send the following for laboratory testing on the day of arrival:
You must take samples when the birds are 4 weeks old, and again 2 weeks before you move them to the laying unit. You can choose either of these types of samples:
Select sites:
Follow these instructions.
Use this table to find out the minimum number of 1g samples you need to take.
| Number of birds kept in building | Minimum number of faeces samples |
|---|---|
| 1 to 24 | A number equal to the total number of birds up to a maximum of 20 birds. |
| 25 to 29 | 20 |
| 30 to 39 | 25 |
| 40 to 49 | 30 |
| 50 to 59 | 35 |
| 60 to 89 | 40 |
| 90 to 199 | 50 |
| 200 to 499 | 55 |
| 500+ | 60 |
You must sample your adult breeding flocks at least every 3 weeks during the laying period. This is known as operator sampling. An official sample can replace an operator sample.
You must use one of these types of samples:
The exception is when your flock has tested positive for a salmonella strain covered by the NCP (also known as a regulated serotype or serovar). In this case, testing must be at least every 2 weeks. The regulated strains are:
Take samples in the existing bedding – do not put new bedding down.
Gather all the equipment you’ll need before you go into the laying house to prevent contamination. Take care to avoid contamination if you keep other animals (especially pigs or cattle) on your premises.
To prevent disinfectant or sanitiser affecting your sample, you:
If you wear plastic overboots when you walk through disinfectant, you should put on another pair afterwards to protect the boot swabs from the disinfectant.
You should use:
Follow these instructions.
Choose one of these ways of taking a dust sample:
Follow these steps if you use moistened fabric swabs.
Avoid collecting dust from feeding systems.
You must package dust swabs separately from boot swabs.
If you’ve installed dropping belts or scrapers in your cages, use these instructions.
If you have a step-cage system without belts and scrapers, collect faeces from throughout the deep pit. If you collect composite faeces from droppings pits, then collect at least 20 pinches of fresh surface material from each row of manure. Make sure the material you collect is representative of the whole house. The number of individual faeces samples of 1g is given in the following table — up to 300 depending on the size of the flock. The table shows the number of individual 1g samples needed to make one composite sample.
| Number of birds in the building | Minimum number of 1gram faeces samples to be taken in the house or building |
|---|---|
| 250 to 349 | 200 |
| 350 to 499 | 220 |
| 450 to 799 | 250 |
| 800 to 999 | 260 |
| 1000+ | 300 |
You must send 2 samples of at least 150g each to the laboratory. 150g is equivalent to the quantity of faeces contained in a standard coffee mug tightly packed to the brim with fresh, moist faeces. You can weigh your samples before dispatch to check you have collected a sufficient quantity.
Place the samples in a pot or sealable bag to send to the laboratory. If each sample weighs less than 150g, the laboratory will not carry out the testing and you’ll have to send more samples.
You must label each sample. On each label, you must include:
You should send your samples on the day you collect them. Refrigerate your samples at 2 to 8°C if you cannot send them on that same day. You must not freeze samples.
Make sure the laboratory can start testing your samples within 96 hours of sampling. You’ll need to send more samples if your samples are delayed, or the laboratory cannot meet the testing deadline.
You must send your samples to laboratories approved by either:
You need to contact APHA or DAERA at least 2 weeks before you move birds to the laying unit, and give the dates when:
To tell APHA, contact:
Customer Service Centre: One Health Worcester
Email: csconehealthgeneral@apha.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Fax: 01905 768 649
Worcestershire County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP
In Northern Ireland, DAERA will visit your premises to take official samples. In England, Scotland or Wales, the officials will be from APHA (possibly your vet if authorised to take official samples on behalf of APHA).
You’ll be charged for these visits. An official sample can replace an operator sample. See official sampling fees for England, Scotland and Wales. Contact DAERA for details of fees in Northern Ireland.
This will happen if testing in the last year on your premises gives positive results for:
You’ll need official sampling:
This will apply if testing in the last year on your premises does not find:
If this is the case, you’ll only need samples taken near the beginning and near the end of lay.
The laboratory usually sends the results to:
Use this section to understand the actions and restrictions that could apply to your flocks and premises. APHA or DAERA will assess positive tests for non-vaccine regulated salmonella strains.
Contact APHA or DAERA if you have evidence suggesting contamination of the original sample.
If APHA or DAERA suspect the original result is a false positive, they’ll collect official confirmatory samples to confirm the presence of:
APHA or DAERA will also take 5 carcases and store their organs when they collect confirmatory samples. These may be used to test for the presence of antibiotics if the confirmatory test is negative.
If testing confirms the presence of Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium (including monophasic Salmonella typhimurium), you must:
If testing confirms the presence of the following types of salmonella, you must make a plan with your vet and APHA or DAERA:
This will help you to reduce or eliminate salmonella from the flock.
You must:
You can only move new birds into the house if the results of the tests on the post-cleaning samples are negative.
APHA or DAERA may check your hatchery to see if salmonella has become established there. In Northern Ireland, DAERA will check back in 6 weeks.
Once APHA or DAERA identifies at least one flock as positive, their officials will take samples from every other flock on your premises.
A government vet will also visit your premises to give advice on salmonella control. In Northern Ireland, contact DAERA or your private vet for advice.
Officials will also visit and sample soon after a new flock is placed in the house which they identified as positive.
You will not have to pay for:
You must take NCP samples every 2 weeks for the 12 months after the identification of a positive result for non-vaccine strains of:
The 12 months start from the date when the house, where the positive flock lived, was disinfected.
When a government organisation requires your birds to be culled, it will pay compensation for them as long as you follow its instructions.
Compensation only applies if your flock tests positive for Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium (including monophasic Salmonella typhimurium).
Keep records for at least 2 years. Officials may check your records at any time.
You must record all of the following information each time you take samples:
You need to record any movement of birds to or from your premises. For each movement, record the:
You must declare the:
You must do this in the FCI documents you send to the abattoir for your flock.
If you plan to market meat from your birds as fresh meat, you must declare if this flock had an earlier positive NCP test result. You must do this even if the most recent NCP test result was negative. You must declare all previous NCP salmonella positive results.
The FCI is a legal requirement. Birds may not be slaughtered for human consumption without this information. If the birds are culled on farm and disposed of as animal by-products, you do not need to provide FCI.
If you need more advice, contact APHA or DAERA.
You can also read the
, which provides best practice for preventing salmonella.
Updated: Sampling instructions and confirmatory testing details updated. References to DARD changed to DAERA.
Testing is part of the national control programme (NCP) for salmonella. The NCP aims to control salmonella in poultry flocks across the EU.
If you keep breeding turkeys, you must take samples for testing if you have 250 or more birds at any time in a 12-month period.
You’re breaking the law if you do not follow these rules.
You do not have to test a flock if you farm fewer than 250 breeding turkeys in a 12-month period.
You must send samples for testing to a UK approved laboratory. Choose from:
You must sample each of your flocks. A flock is a group of birds that shares the same air space, for example a poultry house or range.
If you need help working out how many flocks you have, you can ask for advice from:
You need to decide how many flocks you keep, so you collect all the samples you must take. If your birds form one flock, they’ll all be treated as belonging to a positive flock if sampling gives a positive result. Your decision about whether you have one or more flocks could affect how official disease controls affect your business for certain salmonella results.
You must register each premises where you keep your flocks on:
You must register your hatchery if it can incubate 1,000 or more eggs. You must also state which species of poultry will be hatched at your hatchery. If the species you hatch changes, you must tell the organisation which holds your registration details.
Avoid taking samples during or shortly after giving antimicrobials (antibiotics) that affect salmonella. APHA or DAERA could declare your flock positive for salmonella if either of the following apply:
Contact one of the following for guidance on when to test after giving antibiotics:
Do not collect samples unless your approved laboratory can start testing them within 96 hours (4 days) of you taking the samples. Make sure it can test your samples within 96 hours of taking them if you post them. You may have problems if it receives them on a Thursday, Friday or public holiday.
You’ll need to collect more samples if they’re delayed in the post or the laboratory cannot start testing within 96 hours.
You need to buy your own sampling equipment. Contact one of the following to find out where you can buy the equipment you need:
You’ll also have to pay laboratory charges for:
Contact DAERA for details of fees in Northern Ireland.
Follow this guidance for rearing and adult flocks.
You must take samples at all of the following times:
You must regularly test each breeding flock as part of the NCP. You can do the sampling:
For on-farm sampling, you can sample every 4 weeks. The exception is when your flock has tested positive for a salmonella strain covered by the NCP (also known as a regulated serotype or serovar). In this case, testing must be at least every 3 weeks. The regulated strains are:
You must use one of the following types of sampling methods. You can choose from the methods that apply to your flocks. You can use a different choice of method each time you have to take samples.
Choose one of the following ways to take samples:
If there are more than 50,000 eggs from one flock in the hatchery, you must take 2 sets of samples for that flock.
Make sure you include 80% of the eggs from the flock you’re sampling. To do this, you must collect samples from enough hatchers containing eggs produced by the flock to reach this proportion.
You should gather the plastic gloves, plastic bags and packaging you’ll need before you go into the hatchery. This is to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling.
You must send 10 poult box liners per flock per hatchery source with all the contents. The contents should include: unhatched eggs, eggshells and all poults found dead or culled (killed) on arrival.
You can choose to collect samples using these options.
If you do this, you can package your samples in either of these ways:
You must package the boot swabs and dust swab separately.
You may only use this option if you cannot use boot swabs and have fewer than 100 turkeys at the time of sampling. You must package the swabs in 2 separate containers or bags.
Once you’ve moved birds into the laying unit, you must do one of the following:
You must take samples on the premises from breeding turkeys that lay hatching eggs that you sell to farms in other EU member states.
You must take samples every 3 weeks if:
You can take samples at least every 4 weeks if you meet all the following conditions:
If you’re sending breeding birds to slaughter for human consumption, collect samples and get the result in time to send it with them to slaughter.
For birds that will be slaughtered at:
You can take samples on your premises in the following ways as long as you meet the conditions for each type of sample. Make sure you follow the packaging instructions for the type of samples you take.
You can package the boot swabs in one of these ways:
If you do this, you must package the boot swabs and the dust swab separately.
You may use the hand-held faecal swabs option if you cannot use boot swabs and have fewer than 100 turkeys at the time of sampling. You must package the swabs in 2 separate batches.
One of these types of samples can be chosen:
You must arrange to have 2 sets of samples taken for each flock which has more than 50,000 eggs in the hatchery.
Follow these instructions to make sure your approved laboratory accepts your samples and you comply with the NCP.
You should use:
Take samples in the existing bedding (litter) – do not put new bedding down.
You should gather all the equipment you’re going to need before you go into the turkey house to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling. You should take special care to avoid contamination if you keep other animals (especially pigs or cattle) on your premises.
To prevent disinfectant or sanitiser affecting your sample, you:
If you wear plastic overboots when you walk through disinfectant, you must put on another pair afterwards to protect the boot swabs from the disinfectant.
If collecting a combination of boot swabs and dust sample, take one pair of boot swabs from each flock.
Follow these instructions to make sure your approved laboratory accepts your samples and you comply with the NCP.
You should use:
You should gather all the equipment you’re going to need before you go into the turkey house, to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling. You should take special care to avoid contamination if you keep other animals (especially pigs or cattle) on your premises.
To prevent disinfectant or sanitiser affecting your sample, you should not use hand sanitiser on your plastic gloves.
You should collect the plastic gloves, swabs, plastic bags and packaging that you’ll need before you go into the house. This is to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling.
Follow these instructions to make sure your approved laboratory accepts your samples and you comply with the NCP.
You should use:
You should gather all the equipment you’re going to need before you go into the turkey house, to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling. You should take special care to avoid contamination if you keep other animals (especially pigs or cattle) on your premises.
To prevent disinfectant or sanitiser affecting your sample, you should not use hand sanitiser on your plastic gloves.
Collect the plastic gloves, swabs, plastic bags and packaging that you’ll need before you go into the house. This is to prevent contamination before, during and after sampling.
You must label each sample. On each label, you must include:
For hatchery samples, add the name of the hatchery and the hatcher machine number.
You should send your samples on the day you collect them. Refrigerate your samples at 2 to 8°C if you can’t send them on that same day. You must not freeze samples.
Make sure the laboratory can start testing your samples within 96 hours of sampling. You’ll need to send more samples if your samples are delayed, or the laboratory cannot meet the testing deadline.
You must send your samples to laboratories approved by either:
Officials will take a routine official sample in the lifetime of the flock. They’ll either visit your premises to do so or collect the official sample at the hatchery you use.
In England, Scotland and Wales, routine official samples may be taken by an:
In Northern Ireland, an official from DAERA will take samples.
For breeding flocks that are on the premises, officials will sample when the birds are aged between 30 and 45 weeks. Alternatively the official sample may be taken at hatchery. This sample will be of eggs laid by the flock that are hatching. The sampled eggs must have been laid when the birds were aged between 30 and 45 weeks. The routine official sample (whether collected at premises or hatchery) can count as one of the operator samples you must take when your adult turkeys are in lay.
You’ll be charged for these visits. See fees for England, Scotland and Wales. Contact DAERA for details of fees in Northern Ireland.
Officials from APHA or DAERA can also visit to take samples:
The laboratory usually sends the results to:
Use this section to understand the actions and restrictions that could apply to your flocks and premises.
APHA or DAERA will take samples when eggs hatched in a hatcher test positive for either:
They’ll take samples from the flocks on your premises that produced these eggs. The hatchery owner or an official may have collected the original positive hatcher sample. If officials confirm a non-vaccine strain of Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium in your flock, you must:
APHA or DAERA will contact you to discuss the arrangements for slaughtering all the birds in the positive flock(s). They’ll also contact you to discuss destroying all hatching eggs that might be infected (including those already at the hatchery).
(APHA or DAERA may also place the hatchery under a movement restriction. The hatchery owner will only be allowed to move equipment, animals, eggs or animal products to, or from their hatchery with a licence from APHA or DAERA. Officials may also carry out an audit of the hatchery, including tests to see if salmonella has become established there. APHA or DAERA will only lift the hatchery movement restrictions after effective cleansing and disinfection have been demonstrated by sampling.)
APHA or DAERA will assess positive tests for non-vaccine strains Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium (including monophasic Salmonella typhimurium).
Contact APHA or DAERA if you have evidence suggesting contamination of the original sample.
If APHA or DAERA suspect the original result is a false positive, they’ll collect official confirmatory samples to confirm the presence of:
APHA or DAERA will also take 5 carcases and store their organs when they collect confirmatory samples. These may be used to test for the presence of antibiotics if the confirmatory test is negative.
APHA or DAERA will contact you to tell you what you have to do. This will include all of the following:
You will not have to pay for any samples or testing carried out by APHA or DAERA because of a positive test result.
Once APHA or DAERA identifies at least one flock as positive, their officials will take samples from every other flock on your premises.
A government vet will also visit your premises to give advice on salmonella control. In Northern Ireland, contact DAERA or your private vet for advice.
Officials will also visit and sample when a new flock is placed in the house where the last flock had a positive test result. You will not have to pay for:
You must take NCP samples every 3 weeks for the 12 months after the identification of a positive result for either non-vaccine strains of:
The 12 months start from the date when the house where the positive flock lived was disinfected.
When a government organisation requires your birds to be culled, it will pay compensation for them as long as you follow its instructions.
Compensation only applies if your flock tests positive for Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium (including monophasic Salmonella typhimurium).
Keep records for at least 2 years. Officials may check your records at any time.
You must record all of the following information each time you take samples:
You need to record any movement of birds to or from your premises. For each movement record the:
You must declare the:
You must do this in the FCI documents you send to the abattoir for your flock.
If you plan to market meat from your birds as fresh meat, you must declare if this flock had an earlier positive NCP test result. You must do this even if the most recent NCP test result was negative. You must declare all previous NCP salmonella positive results.
The FCI is a legal requirement. Birds may not be slaughtered for human consumption without this information. If the birds are culled on farm and disposed of as animal by-products, you do not need to provide FCI.
If you need more advice, contact APHA or DAERA.
You can also read the
, which provides best practice for preventing salmonella.