BE AWARE - JUST READ THIS - VERY IMPORTANT

[Keeperoflock]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/he...-outbreak-cdc-says/ar-AABvt48?ocid=spartandhp

Copied and pasted from link listed above.

Dated: 5/18/2019

Salmonella alert: Backyard chickens have caused 21-state outbreak, CDC says

Fifty-two people in 21 states have contracted salmonella from backyard poultry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced.

Five patients were hospitalized, and 28% of those sickened by these home-based chicks and ducklings are children under age 5.

"Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence indicate that contact with backyard poultry from multiple hatcheries is the likely source of these outbreaks," the CDC said. "People reported obtaining chicks and ducklings from several sources, including agricultural stores, websites and hatcheries." The issue is that chickens and ducks with salmonella look healthy and clean, so people touch them or the areas where the birds live and then get infected.

A person who gets sick from the salmonella bacteria will have diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours afterward and remain sick for four to seven days, the CDC said. Most patients recover on their own.

Backyard poultry, especially chickens, have become popular pets in the U.S. Many owners continue to use them as a source for eggs and meat, too.

The state with the most cases in this outbreak is Ohio with nine, followed by Missouri with six, Pennsylvania with five, Tennessee and Virginia with four each and Mississippi with three. Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Texas have two cases each, and Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming have one each.

The CDC's tips for avoiding getting sick from salmonella include:

• Always wash your hands with soap immediately after touching backyard chickens and ducks or the places where they live. If you can't do that, use hand sanitizer instead.
• Prohibit backyard poultry from coming into your house, especially places where you store, prepare and consume food and drinks.
• Designate one pair of shoes to wear when taking care of the birds and then never wear them inside.
• Don't let children under age 5, adults over 65 and people with weakened immune systems touch the poultry.
• Don’t kiss or snuggle backyard poultry or let them touch your face.
• Only clean your backyard poultry equipment, like cages and feed, outdoors.

According to the CDC, approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. are infected with salmonella each year. An estimated 23,000 need to be hospitalized and 450 die.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Zlati Meyer on Twitter: @ZlatiMeyer

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Salmonella alert: Backyard chickens have caused 21-state outbreak, CDC says

 

[Saaniya]

i have been reading about salmonella but tbh not all chickens carry this
i live with my chicken 24x7 hold them kiss them i didnt have any problem
problem only happens when theres no cleanliness in the Coops and poop start to build ammonia and other bacteria chooks walk on theor poop and and carry bacteria ..

cleanliness is a important subject in backyard poultry

 

[Col1948]

I clean the coop everyday, I have poop boards so easy to clean, plus I do wash my hands, and mine never come in the house.

 

[Fishkeeper]

If it's spread across 21 states but is only a couple people per state, I strongly suspect that's either a contaminated hatchery they all ordered from, or pure coincidence.

You should definitely still follow those cleanliness measures, though, to avoid diseases in general. It can also help prevent you getting an allergy! The more you're exposed to a substance, the more likely you are to get an allergy to it.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Bah, HUMBUG! - There have always been cases of salmonella infections everywhere! MSNBC had an empty space in their web-site and needed a news to fill it - boom we have a salmonella »outbreak«! - Fifty-two people in 21 states makes ~2.5 persons per state. A typical "click-bait" news!

Salmonella enterica and Salmonella bongori are very common bacteria, growing in the gastro-intesinal tract of many birds and mammals, including humans. Weather they have a function in the digestive procedure is still unknown. They can already be present in the egg that a chicken or a duck lays, so even if you have hatched and raised your birds under "sterile" conditions, never brought them outside and feed only sterile food, they may have salmonella bacteria in their intestines… There are three problems with salmonella bacteria :

1. A huge amount of these critters is ingested through contaminated food and your immune system is temporarily overwhelmed. A healthy person will spend more time than usual in the bathroom, people with weak immune systems can get seriously sick and can even die.
   By applying good food preparation practices, especially thoroughly cooking poultry meat and eggs you're safe. Salmonella dies at 70° (158F).
2. There are some bacteria strains that have developed a resistance against most antibiotics which can cause serious complications in the treatment of people with a weak immune system.
3. The scary issue: Some strains of salmonella bacteria have gone rogue and instead of living out their lives in the intestines they pass through the lymphatic system of the intestine into the blood of the patients and may infect other organs.

Salmonella bacteria neither grow in »ammonia producing bedding« nor in any kind of bird poop. Once they have left the body of their hosts, salmonella bacteria die off within 24 hours and they don't produce spores, like for example anthrax does. Only when a fresh sample of feces is ingested an infection may spread. Coop cleanliness is irrelevant - For salmonella!
There are some good news: Most poultry owners have already swallowed their fair share of salmonella from their birds - come-on who has not snuggled with a sweet duckling or chick, and forgotten to wash hands after holding a bird…
So you got small amounts of bacteria into your body, preparing your immune system for the large scale attack. Your birds have literally vaccinated you and made you immune against many strains of salmonella.
For those who don't have backyard poultry - or those who claim to always follow strict hygiene policies - a salmonella vaccine is being developed by the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161219202023.htm

 

[Chickassan]

They do this every year. I think they use the same articles and just change the dates and details.
Tinfoil hat anyone?

 

[AmyJane725]

52 people out of a country of 327.2 million is not an outbreak. This is irresponsible fear mongering.

Chickens having salmonella isn't exactly news. My parents taught me from a very young age to always wash my hands after handling eggs, raw meat, doorknobs, and basically anything out in public that multiple people touch. Maybe the next news story should be about how filthy shopping carts are.

Washing your hands after handling animals that walk around in their own feces is common sense as far as I'm concerned. And I even asked about salmonella the last time I was at the doctor. They said you don't even need to come to the doctor for it. Just let it run its course. Water and bed rest.

 

[Emmaloveschickens9156]

i have been reading about salmonella but tbh not all chickens carry this
i live with my chicken 24x7 hold them kiss them i didnt have any problem
problem only happens when theres no cleanliness in the Coops and poop start to build ammonia and other bacteria chooks walk on theor poop and and carry bacteria ..

cleanliness is a important subject in backyard poultry

Same! I love on my babies all the time. Never had any problems.

 

[Emmaloveschickens9156]

Just people trying to put fear into everybody’s mind.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/he...-outbreak-cdc-says/ar-AABvt48?ocid=spartandhp

Copied and pasted from link listed above.

Dated: 5/18/2019

Salmonella alert: Backyard chickens have caused 21-state outbreak, CDC says

Fifty-two people in 21 states have contracted salmonella from backyard poultry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced.

Five patients were hospitalized, and 28% of those sickened by these home-based chicks and ducklings are children under age 5.

"Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence indicate that contact with backyard poultry from multiple hatcheries is the likely source of these outbreaks," the CDC said. "People reported obtaining chicks and ducklings from several sources, including agricultural stores, websites and hatcheries." The issue is that chickens and ducks with salmonella look healthy and clean, so people touch them or the areas where the birds live and then get infected.

A person who gets sick from the salmonella bacteria will have diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours afterward and remain sick for four to seven days, the CDC said. Most patients recover on their own.

Backyard poultry, especially chickens, have become popular pets in the U.S. Many owners continue to use them as a source for eggs and meat, too.

The state with the most cases in this outbreak is Ohio with nine, followed by Missouri with six, Pennsylvania with five, Tennessee and Virginia with four each and Mississippi with three. Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Texas have two cases each, and Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming have one each.

The CDC's tips for avoiding getting sick from salmonella include:

• Always wash your hands with soap immediately after touching backyard chickens and ducks or the places where they live. If you can't do that, use hand sanitizer instead.
• Prohibit backyard poultry from coming into your house, especially places where you store, prepare and consume food and drinks.
• Designate one pair of shoes to wear when taking care of the birds and then never wear them inside.
• Don't let children under age 5, adults over 65 and people with weakened immune systems touch the poultry.
• Don’t kiss or snuggle backyard poultry or let them touch your face.
• Only clean your backyard poultry equipment, like cages and feed, outdoors.

According to the CDC, approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. are infected with salmonella each year. An estimated 23,000 need to be hospitalized and 450 die.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Zlati Meyer on Twitter: @ZlatiMeyer

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Salmonella alert: Backyard chickens have caused 21-state outbreak, CDC says

Welp, I’m still gonna hang out with my chickens! I just lost a chick that was one of only two who hatched last weekend. The chicken math is real, I didn’t want Uno to be lonely, so I went out to get a replacement Plymouth Barred Rock, and I came home with one………… along with a pair of bearded Americana! I love my chickens.