New York state bill to mandate SE vaccination

Bill A5912-2011 was recently introduced into the State of New York Legislature, sponsored by five members. The State Agriculture and Marketing Law would be amended by adding section 96-(c)-30 to mandate compulsory vaccination of flocks supplying eggs intended for sale in the state of New York.
The proposed amendment will empower the commissioner of agriculture to establish and issue rules and regulations relating to vaccination of flocks against SE.
This action is effectively “window dressing” since it is unlikely that that are any commercial flocks either in New York state or are operated to ship eggs from supplying states that have not been vaccinated. Since the commissioner will subsequently have to rule on the types of vaccines, routes of administration and ages of flocks receiving vaccine it is not possible to comment on the proposal.
At best it will make no difference to the incidence rate of SE among consumers in New York state, and at worst it will add additional costs for paperwork, administration and surveillance.

United Egg Producers address SE crisis, animal welfare

The annual board meeting and executive conference of the United Egg Producers (UEP) held recently in Williamsburg, Va., was detailed in the organization newsletter United Voices. The following initiatives will be implemented.

• The UEP has established a Food Safety Scientific Advisory Council comprising eleven scientific experts to improve industry safety programs.

• The UEP will update the 5-Star Total Quality Assurance Food Safety Program to be presented to the FDA and the FMI for their consideration.

• Funding of approximately $2.7 million will be required for the Michigan State University and the Midwest Universities Consortium to evaluate alternative caged systems, including enriched colony modules.

• Animal welfare guidelines have been established for hatcheries producing pullet chicks, following a 2009 incident involving alleged improper disposal of cockerels.

• The Egg Pack Committee reported contributions for the current year, which exceeded the goal.

• Mark Oldenkemp, of Valley Fresh Foods, was honored as the UEP’s Egg Producer of the Year.

• Howard Helmer received the President’s Award for his long service promoting eggs.

Guest speakers at the conference included Robert Kohlhagn of Diverse Ctiversey Inc. on sustainability. Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, addressed issues relating to cooperatives and activities of the USDA and the Department of Justice. Dr. Cora Morgan of the Food and Drug Administration provided a review on performance measures to access SE reduction and Marie Fenn President, of the National Peanut Board, discussed the salmonella crisis in 2009 affecting peanut products.

New York legislatures propose mandatory vaccination against SE

New York Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblyman A. Brian Kavanagh have announced a proposal to mandate vaccination against SE, according to The Associated Press. It is unclear whether the requirement will be for hens producing eggs in New York or for eggs introduced into the state.
Although vaccination will not absolutely guarantee freedom from egg-borne infection of consumers, administration of both attenuated live mutant ST vaccine to pullets and inactivated SE emulsion prior to transfer is being adopted as an industry practice.
A comprehensive program to prevent SE incorporates vaccination but also involves effective biosecurity, rodent control, prerequisite flock monitoring, egg washing and maintaining a cold chain of under 45F from packing through to point of sale. In combination these measures will reduce the probability of infection to almost zero.