A ProMED Mail release confirmed that the ongoing outbreak of salmonellosis attributed to backyard chickens has now increased to 409 cases with 102 hospitalizations as of August 19th.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has collected data on cases extending from February 18th to August 5th, 2024. The actual number of those infected is considerably higher than the confirmed diagnoses since only those severely affected seek medical attention and not all patients receive a laboratory workup with microbiological examination.
Among the cases, eight serotypes of Salmonella were identified including S. Enteritidis, S. Mbandaka and S. Typhimurium. Among the 344 isolates from patients and also 42 environmental samples, 10.2 percent were resistant to ciprofloxacin. Isolates were resistant to a range of antibiotics of human health significance at rates from 0.7 to 2.0 percent.
Multiple hatcheries were involved in shipping infected chicks based on examination of chick box liners. The range of age among patients extended from 1 to 93 years but 27 percent were under the age of 5.
In 1975, the FDA banned interstate movement of immature turtles known to be a source of Salmonella infection. Salmonellosis especially among children fell sharply the following year. Backyard chickens are now so pervasive that a ban would be impractical. Given that recommendations to improve hygiene and precautions to prevent infection are inadequate alternative protective measures are required. Either federal intervention at the hatchery level will be required to reduce the incidence rate or civil litigation will force hatcheries to either “clean up their act” or cease operation.