Fear the little chicks

A really poorly written piece from the Dispatch...once again, the animals are made out as the villians, when if people would just wash their hands, this "problem" would go away. The article makes it seems like the bird's fault, and that this outbreak is a big deal. The CDC estimates there are 1.2 MILLION cases of Salmonella each year. You are more likely to catch Salmonella from poorly cooked food than from a well-cared for chicken-especially if you wash your hands after being around the bird!

 

Salmonella linked to poultry hatchery

39 people likely sickened by contact with chicks, ducklings

Friday, June 10, 2011  03:08 AM

BY SPENCER HUNT

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

At least 39 people in 15 states have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak that has been linked to chicks and ducklings sold by an Ohio hatchery.

The sick include eight Ohioans. Nationwide, there have been nine hospitalizations and no deaths.

Ohio Department of Health officials said yesterday that a relatively rare strain called salmonella altona was found on baby birds that Mt. Healthy Hatcheries in Cincinnati sold to several agricultural supply outlets.

"It was an exact match," said Jen House, a Health Department spokeswoman.

Officials say an 8-year-old Franklin County boy and a 55-year-old Licking County woman are among those affected.

Some of the illnesses might have been caused by animals purchased as Easter pets for children, House said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are coordinating the multistate investigation.

Mt. Healthy Hatcheries officials said in a written statement that they are examining their suppliers and testing their own flocks for salmonella.

"We are committed to finding answers ... and we will work tirelessly to do so," the company wrote. "Chicks purchased from our hatchery should be considered as farm animals - not pets - and should be treated as such."

Salmonella can cause abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever and vomiting that last an average four to seven days. Symptoms can be more severe in people with weak immune systems.

As a result, the state is warning older people, children younger than 5 and those with weak immune systems not to handle chicks, ducklings or other live poultry. Adults and older children who handle poultry should quickly and thoroughly wash their hands.

People also are advised not to "snuggle or kiss" the birds, or eat and drink around live poultry.

Andy Ware, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, said salmonella is a naturally occurring bacterium in the digestive tract of young poultry.

"Even if a young chick appears very healthy, it may still have salmonella," he said.

State agricultural officials sent a veterinarian to Mt. Health Hatcheries this week to look forsalmonella altona. Ware said tests have so far found no sign of the disease there.

Ware said the department will try to identify and eliminate the source of the salmonella. That does not involve destroying live birds, he said.