Tag Archives: backyard poultry

163 sick: CDC investigating new outbreaks of salmonella infections linked to backyard poultry

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A CDC investigation notice regarding multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections has been posted: https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/backyardpoultry-05-21/index.html

Key points:

CDC and public health officials in several states are investigating multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections linked to contact with backyard poultry.

There have been 163 people reported ill from 43 states.

34 people were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

The true number of sick people is likely much higher than the reported number, as many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella.

One-third of sick people are young children under 5 years.

Interviews with sick people show that contact with backyard poultry is the likely source of the outbreaks.

Backyard poultry can carry Salmonella germs even if they look healthy and clean. These germs can easily spread in areas where they live and roam.

Whether you are building your first coop or are a seasoned backyard poultry owner, know the risks of keeping poultry and the simple things you can do to stay healthy.

Steps to stay healthy around backyard poultry:

Always wash your hands for 20 seconds after touching the flock or flock supplies.

Keep flock and flock supplies outside the house to prevent spreading germs into your house.

Don’t let children younger than 5 years touch the birds (including chicks and ducklings) or anything in the area where the birds live and roam.

Don’t kiss or snuggle the birds, as this can spread germs to your mouth and make you sick.

124 sick so far this year: Seriously stop cuddling your chicks, they’re Salmonella factories

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I’ve said it many times before, and will say it again: Stop cuddling your chicks.

The backyard chicken kind.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and multiple states are investigating several multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections linked to contact with live poultry in backyard flocks.

Several different types of Salmonella bacteria have made people sick: Salmonella Seftenberg, Salmonella Montevideo, Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Indiana, and Salmonella Litchfield.

As of June 1, 2018, 124 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella have been reported from 36 states.

Illnesses started on dates ranging from February 2, 2018 to May 14, 2018.

21 ill people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

31% of ill people are children younger than 5 years.

Epidemiologic, traceback, and laboratory findings link these outbreaks to contact with live poultry, such as chicks and ducklings, which come from multiple hatcheries.

In interviews, 55 (74%) of 74 ill people with information available reported contact with chicks or ducklings in the week before their illness started.

People reported obtaining chicks and ducklings from several sources, including feed supply stores, websites, hatcheries, and from relatives.

Seventy outbreaks of Salmonella infections have been linked to contact with backyard flocks since 2000[PDF – 887KB]. In 2017, CDC reported the largest number of illnesses ever recorded linked to backyard flocks.

People can get sick with Salmonella infections from touching live poultry or their environment. These birds can be carrying Salmonella bacteria but appear healthy and clean and show no signs of illness.

Follow these tips to stay healthy with your backyard flock:

Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching live poultry or anything in their environment.

Don’t let children younger than 5 years handle or touch live poultry without adult supervision.

Set aside a pair of shoes to wear while taking care of your birds and keep those outside of your home.

Do not let live poultry inside the house, in bathrooms, or especially in areas where food or drink is prepared, served, or stored, such as kitchens or outdoor patios.

For a complete list of recommendations, visit the Healthy Pets, Healthy People website section on backyard poultry

And don’t sleep with your chicks.

Not cute with 300 sick from Salmonella linked to live poultry in backyard flocks

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as of August 5, 2014, a total of 300 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport, or Salmonella Hadar in 42 states and Puerto Rico, up from 251 in late June.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA• 31% of ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

  • Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback findings have linked this outbreak of human Salmonella infections to contact with chicks, ducklings, and other live poultry from Mt. Healthy Hatcheries in Ohio.

• 80% of ill people reported contact with live poultry in the week before their illness began.

  • Findings of multiple traceback investigations of live baby poultry from homes of ill persons have identified Mt. Healthy Hatcheries in Ohio as the source of chicks and ducklings. This is the same mail-order hatchery that has been associated with multiple outbreaks of Salmonella infections linked to live poultry in past years, including in 2012 and 2013.
  • CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory conducted antibiotic resistance testing on Salmonella isolates collected from 11 ill persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis or Newport. Of the 11 isolates tested:

• Two (18%) were drug resistant (defined as resistance to one or more antibiotics).

• Mail-order hatcheries, agricultural feed stores, and others that sell or display chicks, ducklings, and other live poultry should provide health-related information to owners and potential purchasers of these birds prior to selling them. This should include information about the risk of acquiring a Salmonella infection from contact with live poultry.

◦  Read the advice to mail-order hatcheries and feed stores and others that sell or display live poultry.

◦  Consumers who own live poultry should take steps to protect themselves such as handwashing and no live poultry inside the house.

Stop kissing chicks; more Salmonella from backyard chicks

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as of May 27, 2014, a total of 126 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis or Salmonella Newport have been identified in 26 states. Since the last update on May 8, 2014, a total of 66 new ill persons have been reported from 18 states: Alabama (4), Colorado (1), Georgia (5), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Kentucky (2), Maine (4), Montana (1), New Hampshire (1), New Mexico (1), New York (6), North Carolina (11), Ohio (7), Pennsylvania (7), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (5), Virginia (5), and West Virginia (1).

baby.chickAmong the persons who reported the date they became ill, illnesses began between and February 4, 2014 and May 15, 2014. Ill persons range in age from younger than one year to 95 years, and the median age is 28 years. Thirty-nine percent of ill persons are 10 years of age or younger.  Fifty percent of ill persons are female. Among 81 ill persons with available information, 28 (35%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback investigations conducted by officials in local, state, and federal public health agencies indicate that contact with live poultry sourced from Mt. Healthy Hatcheries in Ohio is the likely source of this outbreak of Salmonella infections.

Interviews with newly reported ill persons about their exposures in the week before becoming ill continue to be conducted. To date, 72 (82%) of 88 ill persons interviewed reported contact with live poultry (e.g., chicks, chickens, ducks, ducklings) before becoming ill.  Eight (11%) of 72 reported contact with only adult chickens and 5 (7%) of 72 reported contact with only ducklings.  The median time from acquiring live poultry and illness onset was 24 days, with a range of 3 to 468 days. Samples from live poultry and the environments where the poultry live and roam were collected from an ill person’s home in Vermont. Testing of these samples yielded one of the outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis. These birds were sourced from Mt. Healthy Hatcheries.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMt. Healthy Hatcheries sells birds to many different retailers. Fifty-two (90%) of 58 ill persons with available purchase information reported purchasing live poultry from seven different feed or farm store companies in multiple states. Ill persons reported purchasing live poultry for backyard flocks to produce eggs or meat, or to keep as pets.

Contact with live poultry can be a source of human Salmonella infections. Many ill persons in this outbreak reported bringing the live poultry into their homes, and others reported kissing or cuddling with the live poultry. These behaviors increase a person’s risk of a Salmonella infection from contact with live poultry. People can get sick even if they do not have direct contact with the live poultry, but touch items and places that have been contaminated in the poultry’s environment. Always wash hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching live poultry or anything in the area where they live and roam. Adults should supervise hand washing for young children. These recommendations are important and apply to all live poultry regardless of the age of the birds or where they were purchased.

Mail-order hatcheries, agricultural feed stores, and others who sell or display chicks, ducklings and other live poultry should provide health-related information to owners and potential purchasers of these birds prior to the point of purchase. This should include information about the risk of acquiring a Salmonella infection from contact with live poultry.