Salmonella Outbreak Hospitalizes Dozens—CDC Links Cases to Backyard Flocks

Spring is peak chick season, but that comes with some risks. A CDC warning links a growing Salmonella outbreak across 13 states to backyard chickens, sickening dozens and hospitalizing several people.

Nearly half of the cases involve children under age five, a group at higher risk for severe illness. Health officials say even healthy-looking birds can carry the bacteria and spread it through contact with feathers, eggs, or surfaces in coops.

“Children younger than 5 years old shouldn't handle the birds (including chicks and ducklings) or anything in the area where the birds live and roam. They are more likely to get sick from Salmonella,” according to the CDC.

About 1.35 million are infected with Salmonella each year, requiring 26,500 hospitalizations, and causing approximately 420 deaths, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

What States Are Affected by the Salmonella Outbreak?

Michigan has the most cases, followed by Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Maine.

How Do Chickens Get Salmonella?

Even well-cared-for, clean-looking chickens can carry Salmonella bacteria. These germs spread easily in the areas where they roam, according to the CDC.

Salmonella can spread through mites, rodents, contaminated feed, other farm animals, household pets, and wild birds.

How To Stay Safe from Salmonella

Always wash your hands with warm, soapy water after touching backyard chickens or their eggs. If running water isn’t handy, keep hand sanitizer near the chicken coop.

Keep your feed containers and shoes you wear in the coop outside of your house.

What to Do if You Feel Sick

Salmonella is the leading cause of foodborne diseases globally that infects the gastrointestinal tract and causes diarrhea, nausea, and cramps in humans, according to research in the journal Microorganisms.

Make an appointment with your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Diarrhea and a fever higher than 102 F
• Diarrhea that doesn’t improve after three days
• Blood in diarrhea
• Extreme vomiting where you can’t keep liquids down
• Signs of dehydration such as limited urination, dry mouth, and dizziness

You may need a course of antibiotics to clear the bacterial infection, the Cleveland Clinic says, although the latest outbreak includes some antibiotic-resistant strains. Lab testing indicates that some bacterial samples are resistant to fosfomycin.

Health officials say simple precautions, like handwashing and limiting children’s contact with birds, can significantly reduce the risk of infection. Although chicks are cute, don't kiss them.