[ad_1]
Gabor Degre | BDN
Golden Campine chickens are seen on a Montville farm in this June 2016 photo.
An outbreak Salmonella multistate linked to backyard chickens shows no signs of slowing down, according to a notice released Monday by the Federal Centers for Disease Control.
Diseases were first reported in February, according to the CDC. By mid-July, 212 people with salmonellosis strains were reported in 44 states, including one in Maine. Most cases, 27, have been reported in North Carolina. No deaths were reported but 34 people were hospitalized. More than a quarter of infected people are children under 5 years old.
"People with salmonellosis can be touched by live poultry or their environment," says the report. "These birds may carry salmonella bacteria but look healthy and clean and show no sign of disease."
Up to now, six different strains of salmonella bacteria have been identified in this outbreak. Each year, the CDC estimates that salmonella causes about 1.2 million diseases, 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths in the United States. About a million of these diseases come from food contaminated with salmonella. Most people infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The disease usually lasts four to seven days and most people recover without treatment. However, some people may suffer from diarrhea so severe that they must be hospitalized.
[Want to raise backyard chickens in Maine? Here’s what you need to know]
According to the CDC, epidemiologists and laboratories link current salmonella outbreaks with live poultry, such as chicks and ducklings, that come from multiple hatcheries. More than 70% of the sick people surveyed reported having had contact with chicks or ducklings the week before their illness began. They told the investigators that they had gotten the chicks and ducklings from food stores, websites, hatcheries and relatives.
This spring, Dr. Dora Mills, former director of the Maine's disease control and vice president of the University of New England at Biddeford spoke of the dangers that chickens may represent for people.
"Many people do not realize that these small, fuzzy animals carry microbes that carry harmful bacteria," she said. "Even if the animal is healthy, they are often carriers and do not get sick."
[The ups and downs of raising chickens]
The CDC shared some tips for avoiding illness by taking care of a backyard herd. just after touching live poultry or something in their environment.
-Do not let children under 5 years of age handle or touch live poultry without the supervision of an adult.
-Register a pair of shoes to wear while taking care of your "
" It is important to keep in mind that all poultry have these microbes and carry these germs in the normal flora of their systems, "said Mills. "Always remember to wash your hands after squeezing a chicken."
Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest news from Maine.
[ad_2]
Source link
