ANOTHER salmonella outbreak at Mt. Healthy Hatchery

This is from a CDC posting. Obviously Mt. Healthy has a problem that is just not getting corrected. What can we do to get the word out?


"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 in2012 and 2013."

Full text: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/live-poultry-05-14/index.html

Mary

Or, folks could just practice basic hand hygiene and stop kissing baby chicks. Problem solved, right there.

Sure it would help if chicken owners practiced proper hygiene, including hand washing, dedicated farm boots, etv. However, this hatchery CLEARLY has a serious Sslmonella problem and they have not eradicated it. THAT is the larger problem. I do think we should share this information with our chicken friends. Buyers from commercial hatcheries should feel confident they are getting healthy birds. Period. Also suggest we write to the CDC and USDA demanding effective action to stop this serious threat to human health.

I for one have a couple of hens that get daily kisses on top of their heads (a low poop zone).

Mt. Healthy linked to Salmonella... That just seems sooo oxy, oh I don't know,-moronic!
Sad, really.
Thanks for the article link.
Appreciate the scoop on that one.
Good thing I got on this site while making my decision not to buy from hatcheries...especially that one.

oops, duped it (again)

To me the main problem with Salmonella is that you don't want to use those eggs for things like mayonnaise making or other raw uses. A pity and PITA. Not so much kissing chickens. Although I love mine you won't see me kissing on them. I know where they've been. LOL I do also keep separate clothes and shoes/boots for the chicken yard. Those places need to be shut down until they get it straight. It makes us all look bad.

I agree. I think they should have to depopulate, then sanitize about a million times, and wait. Of course, that wrecks their income flow, but I think they should have been made to do that last year when this happened for the second time. I don't know how the authorities allow them to continue to operate. I know they say they are "working" with Mt. Healthy to solve this, but it clearly has not been nearly enough.

I just saw a news story pop up in my feed about this. I agree-too many unresolved outbreaks, and for people like me in the city, that face so much chicken-fear and criticism, this is just fuel to the fire of city commissioners that want to ban chickens.

heiditam said:

I just saw a news story pop up in my feed about this. I agree-too many unresolved outbreaks, and for people like me in the city, that face so much chicken-fear and criticism, this is just fuel to the fire of city commissioners that want to ban chickens.

Click to expand...

First I will say I am amazed at the incidents of infection that seem to originate at this hatchery. But, I would also just suggest that you try to verify the recency of the report that you read today. It may be an old report and it may not. I did do some research and do NOT find any recent indications of an infection from this hatchery or any other. Following is a quote from the CDC about the most recent outbreak (which they did trace to birds from Mt Healthy) dated Oct 21, 2014:

"This outbreak appears to be over. However, live poultry, including those kept in backyard flocks, remain an important cause of human Salmonella infections in the United States. More information about Salmonella from live poultry and the steps people can take to reduce their risk of infection is available."

They (and I) suggest that we all read the following:

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/SalmonellaBabyBirds/

http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/live-poultry-05-14/advice-consumers.html

I share the concern we all have as to how to protect our flocks, our friends and our families and if we follow a few pretty simple guidelines we greatly increase the chances of having a safe and healthy flock to share the bounty from.

FYI, NPR just aired a program that included a segment on chicken and salmonella, including this issue. The program, Reveal, by the Center for Investigative Reporting, unfortunately leaves the impression that you can't find a chicken without salmonella and even backyard chicken-keepers are part of the web of problems....that was the teaser I heard that led me to listen to the program. Then, I found the show used one family to represent backyard chicken keepers....a family that got chickens from Mt. Healthy....and their son got very, very sick....seems CIR could have provided a more balanced picture....here is the link:

https://www.revealnews.org/episodes...tems/#segment-the-fowl-business-of-salmonella