A Salmonella outbreak linked to mail-order chicks and ducks from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohio has ended, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency issued its final report on the outbreak, which sickened 195 people and killed two on Friday.
Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport, and Salmonella Lille were the three outbreak strains that sickened residents in 27 states ,one third of whom required hospitalization. By state, the case count is as follows: Alabama (4), Arizona (1), Arkansas (1), Delaware (1), Georgia (5), Illinois (4), Indiana (6), Kansas (1), Kentucky (11), Louisiana (1), Maryland (5), Maine (4), Massachusetts (7), Michigan (2), North Carolina (15), Nebraska (1), New Jersey (5), New York (23), Ohio (42), Pennsylvania (16), Rhode Island (2), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (11), Texas (2), Virginia (9), Vermont (3), and West Virginia (11).
Children are disproportionately affected by outbreaks involving chicks and ducks. About one third of those sickened by this outbreak were under ten years of age.
The investigation into the outbreak included epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback findings all of which linked human Salmonella infections to contact with live poultry from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohio. Mail-order hatcheries need to do a better job of outlining the risk of Salmonella infection that live poultry carries, according to the CDC.
The Mt Healthy Hatchery outbreak was one of three multi-state Salmonella outbreaks linked to live poultry this year which together sickened 334 people and killed three. Of the 12 multi-state outbreaks announced by the CDC this year, five of them were caused by contact with live animals: three from live poultry, one from miniature pet turtles and one from miniature pet hedgehogs.
