Cross-contamination with pet food is a continual issue.

It took years for Brian and Elizabeth Hall to have their first baby.

It will take years more for their infant daughter to get well.

Amy Hall turned 2 last month, battling a debilitating form of salmonella that, according to her parents, surfaces every two to three weeks and is expected to plague her for years to come.

She got it from her family’s dogs. The pets, Amy’s parents later learned, became infected in 2012 from eating contaminated dog food produced at a South Carolina plant.

Now, Amy is a salmonella carrier. Earlier this summer, her parents sued the pet food company they hold responsible.

Health officials have told the Halls their child is a health risk to anyone she is around. The couple sterilizes their Union County home regularly. They don’t believe it’s safe to put Amy in daycare, and have hired a specialized nanny to step in while they’re at work.

Amy is among some 50 salmonella victims in at least 20 states and Canada who health investigators have linked to the Diamond Pet Foods plant in Gaston, S.C. In 2005, the facility produced contaminated food that killed or sickened dozens of dogs in more than 20 states.