Safety Report: Salmonella Outbreak 2022 Linked to Backyard Poultry, USA

United States

The CDC announced that they are currently investigating multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections with serotypes Enteritidis, Hadar, Infantis, and Typhimurium.

As of June 2, 2022, 219 people infected with one of the outbreak strains have been reported from 38 states. 27 have been hospitalized. One death has been reported from Tennessee. Illnesses started on dates ranging from February 15, 2022, to May 19, 2022.

State and local public health officials are interviewing people about the animals they came into contact with in the week before they got sick. Of the 87 people interviewed, 61 (70%) reported contact with backyard poultry before getting sick. Of 56 people with information available, 16 reported eating eggs from backyard poultry, and 2 reported eating meat from backyard poultry.

Backyard poultry, like chickens and ducks, can carry Salmonella germs even if they look healthy and clean. These germs can easily spread to anything in the areas where the poultry live and roam. You can get sick from touching your backyard poultry or anything in their environment and then touching your mouth or food and swallowing Salmonella germs.

CDC advises Backyard Flock Owners:
-Always wash your hands with soap and water immediately after touching backyard poultry, their eggs, or anything in the area where they live and roam.
- Use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not readily available. Consider having hand sanitizer at your coop.
- Don’t kiss or snuggle backyard poultry, and don’t eat or drink around them. This can spread Salmonella germs to your mouth and make you sick.
- Keep your backyard flock and supplies you use to care for them (like feed containers and shoes you wear in the coop) outside of the house. You should also clean the supplies outside the house.
-Don’t let children younger than 5 years touch chicks, ducklings, or other backyard poultry. Young children are more likely to get sick from germs like Salmonella.
- Collect eggs often. Eggs that sit in the nest can become dirty or break.
- Throw away cracked eggs. Germs on the shell can more easily enter the egg through a cracked shell.
- Rub off dirt on eggs with fine sandpaper, a brush, or a cloth. Don’t wash eggs because colder water can pull germs into the egg.
- Refrigerate eggs to keep them fresh and slow the growth of germs.
- Cook eggs until both the yolk and white are firm, and cook egg dishes to an internal temperature of 160°F to kill all germs.

In case you are experiencing Salmonella symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever, it is important to report it. It can help to detect & resolve outbreaks early and prevent others from being harmed, and it enables better surveillance. If symptoms persist, seek medical care.

Source: www.cdc.gov/salmonella/backyardpoultry-06-22/index.html