Handling baby chicks or other young poultry can be dangerous to your health and has caused an upswing in illness from salmonella this year.
The Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed 19 cases of salmonella infections associated with live poultry contact between early April and early July, including three that required hospitalization. As a result, officials are warning people to wash their hands and take other precautions if they touch or hold newly hatched chicks, ducklings or young turkeys.
"Raising poultry can be a wonderful experience for families, but it's important to protect yourself and your kids from the germs animals can carry," said Stacy Holzbauer, the health department's veterinarian.
Salmonella is a bacterium found in the guts of animals and shed in their feces. If ingested inadvertently by people with dirty hands, it often causes fever, vomiting and diarrhea, and sometimes more serious infections and health problems. At higher risk for complications are young children with developing immune systems, pregnant women, older adults, diabetics and others with weakened immune systems.
Even birds that look healthy and clean can still have enough germs on their feathers or feet to make a person sick, Holzbauer said.
"If you don't wash your hands thoroughly after handling the birds and then eat something, that's one of the most common ways of getting salmonella," she said. Young children are especially vulnerable, Holzbauer said, because "kids are so hand to mouth, and they're usually not the best hand washers."
Salmonella infection can also occur after eating contaminated foods that have not been properly prepared or handled.
The Minnesota cases are part of a multistate outbreak involving live poultry that's being investigated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reported more than 300 cases from 35 states in early June, and the number of cases is likely to double in the next update, expected soon.
