Chick

  • Easter chick or egg or Salmonella?

    Posted: April 7th, 2012 - 12:30pm by Doug Powell

    baby_chicks2_1.jpg

    Health officials are again bracing for yet another wave of illness linked to Easter gifts of baby chicks and ducklings.

    Last year 68 people got salmonella in 20 states from handling baby chicks and ducklings, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost a third were under age 6.

    CDC's Casey Barton Bahravesh told USA Today’s Elizabeth Weise there have been more than 35 U.S. outbreaks of salmonella caused by exposure to chicks, ducklings and other live poultry since 1990, and most of those who got sick were young children.

    If you're buying chicks, ask if the seller tests them for salmonella, says Douglas Powell, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. "If they look at you like you're crazy, you shouldn't buy from them."

    Stores say customers don't always think through what they'll do with a chick when it becomes a chicken. The surge in interest in backyard laying flocks has helped, because there are more friends and family willing to take in a cute chick that's now a not-so-cute pullet, says Les Phillips of MyPetChicken.com, an online poultry supplier. But some chick buyers still "end up taking them to the local pet store to try to re-home them."

    Half of all chicks are boys, and boy chicks grow up to be crowing roosters that can live for up to five years.

    If that chick goes on to produce eggs, Professor Ben Chapman of North Carolina State University says hard boiled eggs used in egg hunts shouldn’t be eaten afterwards because the shells can crack, allowing bacteria to enter.

    Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimated 142,000 illnesses are caused each year by consumption of eggs contaminated with Salmonella, and that even eggs with clean, un-cracked shells may occasionally contain the bacteria Salmonella.

    The FDA recommends to:
    -- Buy eggs only if sold from a refrigerator or refrigerated case.
    -- Open the carton and make sure that the eggs are clean and the shells are not cracked.
    -- Refrigerate promptly.
    -- Store eggs in their original carton and use them within three weeks for best quality.
    -- Wash hands, utensils, equipment, and work surfaces with hot, soapy water before and after they come in contact with eggs and egg-containing foods.
    -- Cook eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm. Scrambled eggs should not be runny.
    -- Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160 degrees F.
    -- For recipes that call for eggs that are raw or undercooked when the dish is served -- Caesar salad dressing and homemade ice cream -- use either shell eggs that have been treated to destroy Salmonella, by pasteurization or another approved method, or pasteurized egg products.

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    Salmonella  |  1 Comment
    chick, Easter, Egg, food safety, salmonella
  • 96 sick, mainly little kids; multistate outbreak of Salmonella Altona and Johannesburg infections linked to chicks and ducklings from a mail-order hatchery — United States, February–October 2011

    Posted: March 22nd, 2012 - 4:43pm by Doug Powell

    I worry about this every time my daughter’s school brings in chicks and other animals. And I always make sure to ask if they are testing for salmonella and what kind of controls are in place. And I complain about parents parking in the handicapped spots. They think I’m crazy, but I’ll show them. Except no one wins with salmonella either.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is reporting that salmonella infections from contact with live poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese) continue to be a public health problem.

    In summer 2011, two clusters of human Salmonella infections were identified through PulseNet, a molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance. Standard outbreak and traceback investigations were conducted. From February 25 to October 10, 2011, a cluster of 68 cases caused by Salmonella serotype Altona and a cluster of 28 cases caused by Salmonella Johannesburg were identified in 24 states. Among persons infected, 32% of those with Salmonella Altona and 75% of those with Salmonella Johannesburg were aged ≤5 years. Forty-two of 57 (74%) Salmonella Altona patients and 17 of 24 (71%) of Salmonella Johannesburg patients had contact with live poultry in the week preceding illness. Most patients or their parents reported purchasing chicks or ducklings from multiple locations of an agricultural feed store chain that was supplied by a single mail-order hatchery. Live poultry were purchased for either backyard flocks or as pets.

    Live poultry are commonly purchased from agricultural feed stores or directly from mail-order hatcheries; approximately 50 million chicks are sold annually in the United States. Since 1990, approximately 35 outbreaks of human Salmonella infections linked to contact with live poultry from mail-order hatcheries have been reported. These outbreaks highlight the ongoing risk for human Salmonella infections associated with live poultry contact, especially for young children.

    In response to this ongoing public health problem, officials with local, state, and federal public and animal health agencies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Poultry Improvement Plan (USDA-NPIP), the mail-order hatchery industry, and other partners have collaborated to develop and implement a comprehensive Salmonella control strategy. Mail-order hatcheries should comply with management and sanitation practices outlined in the USDA-NPIP Salmonellaguidelines and should avoid the shipment of hatched chicks between multiple hatcheries before shipping to customers. Educational materials warning customers of the risk for Salmonella infection from live poultry contact are available and should be distributed with all live poultry purchases.
     

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    Cdc, chick, duck, Education, Petting Zoo, salmonella
  • Oregon salmonella case brings chick warning

    Posted: April 7th, 2011 - 4:09pm by Doug Powell

    Spring, Easter and chicks mean salmonella.

    The season’s first baby chick-related salmonella case has been recorded in a Deschutes County, Oregon resident.

    Health types say to keep chicks penned in out buildings or outside and always wash your hands after coming into contact with any area where chicks are kept, or the chicks themselves.

    Be especially careful with chicks around kids; don’t keep chicks in childcare centers.

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  • Nuevo Folleto Informativo: Empleados de una fiambrería propagan salmonelosis

    Posted: June 26th, 2010 - 6:26am by Doug Powell

    Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

    Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:

    - Un empleado estuvo en contacto directo con pollitos infectados.

    - Preparadores de alimentos pueden transmitir Salmonela de su materia fecal sin saberlo y sin tener síntoma alguno.

    - Lavarse las manos después de haber tocado aves, pollitos o reptiles, y luego de haber estado en contacto con materia fecal animal.

    Los folletos informativos son creados semanalmente y puestos en restaurantes, tiendas y granjas, y son usados para entrenar y educar a través del mundo. Si usted quiere proponer un tema o mandar fotos para los folletos, contacte a Ben Chapman a benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.
    Puede seguir las historias de los folletos informativos y barfblog en twitter
    @benjaminchapman y @barfblog.

     

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    chick, contamination, Food Service, salmonella