Salmonella?! What do I do now????

[alexisrambles]

I still handle lizards to, moving them into my greenhouse for bug-eaters, but it's not like I kiss them or anything.

That's the thing! You don't need to kiss them to get the bacteria on you. Just like people with the flu, if you touch your face with a hand that's touched the lizard who (presumably) at one point or another touches his poop.... You too can catch this lol.

 

[Aunt Angus]

This is it as I understand it.

Almost all warm and cold blooded animals CAN carry salmonella. It's a very common bacteria. It's easily picked up by humans but the symptoms in most people are so small the disease is never diagnosed as salmonellosis. Only the old, young, and immunosuppressed tend to have dramatic enough reactions that it is diagnosed as salmonella. Odds are your second child caught it from the first, who may have not washed their hands after using the bathroom. You shed the disease for weeks after you have it.
You can also catch it from not washing your hands after handling pet food. Salmonellosis may have no symptoms.

The bacteria itself is really not a horrible illness. It's pretty easily prevented except in children, old people, and the immunosuppressed. Your chickens are "catching" it and are contagious just like your child is. The utter panic the CDC promotes really muddies the waters here. Now that I think about it, I'm really unsure why they'd recommend the hatchery cull that flock. Isolating the birds for a month or two would allow them to heal and stop shedding the virus. It's impractical but.... possible.

Chickens aren't infected, per se. We get infected if the bacteria that naturally occur in intestines get into our food or water.

 

[Cryss]

I've learned a lot from this thread and I want to thank *everybody*! OP for sharing what has obviously been a stressful situation... I won't remember who said what, unfortnately, but ... I will start washing my eggs in the bleach- Dawn- warm water solution instead of just under warm running water and wiping with a wet paper towel after this. I know this removes the wax coating but neither I nor my customers are saving them for months and months nor for hatching, so it doesn't really matter ... they are usually pretty clean anyway but once in a while you get that poopy egg, y'know... for whoever pointed out that all chickens have this bacteria in their stool and reminded us of the importance of handwashing ... and I want to just remind everyone to check and wash the bottoms of your shoes or boots after being in the chicken yard or coop; we always hose off before coming in the house.

OP, I wish your children well and thank you again for posting this.

After you've washed and dried your eggs apply a super duper teeny tiny bit of mineral oil to the shell. It acts as a replacement for the natural bloom that you've washed away and your eggs will stay fresh longer.

 

[Aunt Angus]

That's the thing! You don't need to kiss them to get the bacteria on you. Just like people with the flu, if you touch your face with a hand that's touched the lizard who (presumably) at one point or another touches his poop.... You too can catch this lol.

Exactly, but you don't "catch" it. You have to ingest the bacteria. It's a bacterium, not a disease. I think there's a lot of confusion around that fact. It's not like a virus, but I'm not sure others make the distinction.

 

[alexisrambles]

Exactly, but you don't "catch" it. You have to ingest the bacteria. It's a bacterium, not a disease.

I know. I'm just simplifying by referring to the disease salmonellosis as salmonella.

Also like you said, we all have the bacteria inside us from different food. When it turns into salmonellosis is when our immune systems are weakened in some way and don't immediately prevent the bacteria from multiplying.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I know. I'm just simplifying by referring to the disease salmonellosis as salmonella.

Also like you said, we all have the bacteria inside us from different food. When it turns into salmonellosis is when our immune systems are weakened in some way and don't immediately prevent the bacteria from multiplying.

Yeah, sorry. I edited the post because I misunderstood you at first. I agree 200%.

 

[ValerieJ]

The utter panic the CDC promotes really muddies the waters here..

I read an article last week that CDC said there were 279 cases of salmonella in 40 states this year, effecting mostly the very young and old as you say, and they were attributing it largely to BYC. I was a little disturbed because I think they'll step in and start regulating it. Like many have said here, just because you have BYC doesn't even mean that's how you got salmonella. And we just need to teach our young not to kiss the cute little baby chicks. LOL

 

[alexisrambles]

Yeah, sorry. I edited the post because I misunderstood you at first. I agree 200%.

Ah it's cool. I oversimplified a little bit so I could see the confusion! I actually didn't know that the disease wasn't named the same as the bacteria for most of my childhood.

And I'll be honest. Of the many times I've had salmonella, only one was worth going to the doctor over.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I read an article last week that CDC said there were 279 cases of salmonella in 40 states this year, effecting mostly the very young and old as you say, and they were attributing it largely to BYC. I was a little disturbed because I think they'll step in and start regulating it. Like many have said here, just because you have BYC doesn't even mean that's how you got salmonella. And we just need to teach our young not to kiss the cute little baby chicks. LOL

Right?! And there are over a million cases of salmonella poisoning each year. Most are due to food contamination.

There has been talk of regulating the backyard chicken hobby for a few years now. I think this might give them the impetus to begin in earnest.

 

[alexisrambles]

I read an article last week that CDC said there were 279 cases of salmonella in 40 states this year, effecting mostly the very young and old as you say, and they were attributing it largely to BYC. I was a little disturbed because I think they'll step in and start regulating it. Like many have said here, just because you have BYC doesn't even mean that's how you got salmonella. And we just need to teach our young not to kiss the cute little baby chicks. LOL

Well, there are studies done from before this though... and the US averages 1.1 million cases of salmonella a year anyway. So I really don't understand why they're freaking out so much lol. Sounds like a good year!