Chicks, Ducklings and Salmonella
Chicks, ducklings and Salmonella have combined to form an outbreak of infectious disease that, so far, has infected 39 individuals in 15 states -- including eight in Ohio, six in North Carolina and four in Kentucky. The animals were purchased as egg producers for backyard flocks or as pets.
Twenty-eight percent of the chick Salmonella outbreak victims have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported. Traceback investigations have determined that many of the contaminated chicks and ducklings were purchased from the same nationwide agricultural feed store chain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said a single mail-order hatchery was involved in the supply chain. Neither the store nor the hatchery were identified.
The number and home state of persons ill from the outbreak strain of Salmonella Altona are: Georgia (1), Indiana (1), Kentucky (4), Michigan (1), Maryland (3), Minnesota (1), North Carolina (6), New York (2), Ohio (8), Pennsylvania (4), Tennessee (2), Virginia (3), Vermont (1), Wisconsin (1), and West Virginia (1).
