Up-to-date information from the German QS salmonella monitoring and reduction programme

In the beginning, the history, objectives and basic principles of the samonella monitoring and reduction programme that has been developed and implemented since 2002 in the framework of the German cross-sectional quality management and assurance programme "QS" for the food chain are expained in detail. It is a semi-quantitative assessment of the intra-herd prevalence of animals (60 samples per slaughter pig herd and year) with antibodies against salmonella species. By means of this asessment, herds are assigned to one of three risk categories (I = low risk, II = medium risk, and III = high risk) in terms of the probability to introduce Salmonella spp. into the food chain via slaughter pigs. The assignment to the categories is the basis of salmonella-reducing intervention measures. The implementation of the programme is considerably behind the schedule by mid-2004. The reasons for the delay are explained and conclusions for the further development of the programme are drawn.