(a) Environmental testing when laying hens are 40 to 45 weeks of age. As one indicator of the effectiveness of your SE prevention plan, you must perform environmental testing for SE (as described in §§ 118.7 and 118.8) in a poultry house when any group of laying hens constituting the flock within the poultry house is 40 to 45 weeks of age.

(1) If an environmental test at 40 to 45 weeks is negative and your laying hens do not undergo induced molting, then you do not need to perform any additional environmental testing within that poultry house, unless the poultry house contains more than one group of laying hens. If the poultry house contains more than one group of laying hens, then you must perform environmental testing on the poultry house when each group of laying hens is 40 to 45 weeks of age.

(2) If the environmental test at 40 to 45 weeks is positive, then you must:

(i) Review and make any necessary adjustments to your SE prevention plan to ensure that all measures are being properly implemented and

(ii) Begin egg testing (described in § 118.6), unless you divert eggs to treatment as defined in § 118.3 for the life of the flock in that poultry house. Results of egg testing must be obtained within 10-calendar days of receiving notification of the positive environmental test.

(b) Environmental testing after an induced molting period. If you induce a molt in a flock or a group in a flock, you must perform environmental testing for SE in the poultry house at 4 to 6 weeks after the end of any molting process.

(1) If an environmental test at 4 to 6 weeks after the end of the molting process is negative and none of your laying hens in that poultry house is molted again, then you do not need to perform any additional environmental testing in that poultry house. Each time a flock or group within the flock is molted, you must perform environmental testing in the poultry house at 4 to 6 weeks after the end of the molting process.

(2) If the environmental test at 4 to 6 weeks after the end of a molting process is positive, then you must:

(i) Review and make any necessary adjustments to your SE prevention plan to ensure that all measures are being properly implemented; and

(ii) Begin egg testing (described in § 118.6), unless you divert eggs to treatment as defined in § 118.3 for the life of the flock in that poultry house. Results of egg testing, when conducted, must be available within 10-calendar days of receiving notification of the positive environmental test.