A total of 93 persons from 23 states were infected with outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport and Salmonella Lille, which are traced to chicks and ducklings from Mt.Healthy Hatchery - a mail-order chicken hatchery located in Ohio, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Eighteen persons have been hospitalized and one death possibly related to the outbreak is under investigation. About 37 percent of those infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella are 10 years of age or younger.
The States and the number of outbreak cases in each State are as follows:
Alabama (3)
Georgia (3)
Illinois (1)
Indiana (2)
Kentucky (4)
Louisiana (1)
Massachusetts (1)
Maryland (1)
Maine (2)
Michigan (1)
Nebraska (1)
New Jersey (1)
North Carolina (9)
New York (13)
Ohio (26)
Pennsylvania (9)
Rhode Island (1)
South Carolina (1)
Tennessee (4)
Texas (1)
Virginia (6)
Vermont (1) and
West Virginia (1)
The illness onset dates range from March 1, 2012 to May 19, 2012. Since it takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks between when a person falls ill and when the illness is reported, illnesses that occurred after May 6, 2012 may not yet have been reported.
This is the second time in less than a year that Mt.Healthy Hatchery is associated with multi-state and multi-strain Salmonella outbreak. The two strains involved in last year's outbreak were Salmonella Altona and Salmonella Johannesburg.
The CDC advises people to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching live poultry. Adults should monitor hand washing for young children.
by RTT Staff Writer
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