New cases of this bacterial infection have been reported in 29 states, with 21 people who required hospitalization. The outbreak was caused by a strain of salmonella called Salmonella Infantis occurring in chicken.

An outbreak of an antibiotic-resistant strain of Salmonella traced to live and raw chickens has sickened nearly 100 people across 29 states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Wednesday that national, state, and local government health agencies are investigating the outbreak, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service is monitoring the situation.

As of October 15, 92 people had become infected with a strain of salmonella called Salmonella Infantis since January 2018. Twenty-one people have been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths reported.

The CDC has found samples of the salmonella strain in live chickens in more than 50 slaughterhouses and in many types of raw chicken products sold in stores. It has not been able to pinpoint a specific source, such as one or more processing plants or storage facilities, according to Colin Basler, DVM, a veterinary epidemiologist with the CDC’s Outbreak Response and Prevention branch.

RELATED: Did You Know? Chicken Makes People Sick More Than Any Other Food

“Unfortunately, it is possible for a [bacteria] outbreak to affect lots of [chicken] processors because, unlike in other countries, food safety regulators in the United States do not go to the farms, where transmission of deadly Salmonella strains can begin,” says Thomas Gremillion, the director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America.

“If, for example, one of the two breeder companies were contaminated with the Salmonella bacteria implicated in this outbreak, they could potentially send chicks to several different companies that would vertically transmit the bacteria to the flocks,” Gremillion says. “A contaminated feed mill supplying multiple processors’ farms is another possibility.”

Dr. Basler says that, for now, the CDC is not advising consumers to throw away or stop preparing and eating chicken. That could change, however, if the source of the salmonella is pinpointed.

Issues About Antibiotic Resistance

Both live and raw chicken can harbor salmonella, and the CDC always urges consumers to handle raw chicken carefully and cook it thoroughly. “This outbreak becomes another education opportunity,” Basler says.

What is especially concerning about this outbreak is that health investigators have found that the particular strain of salmonella involved is resistant to more than a dozen antibiotics.

Antibiotic-resistant salmonella has been linked to antibiotic consumption in animals. Chicken farmers are legally allowed to give antibiotics to sick chickens, but “many outfits simply feed it to their chicken each and every day,” says Darin Detwiler, PhD, an assistant teaching professor of regulatory affairs of food and food industries at Northeastern University in Boston.

Time to Call the Doctor

According to the CDC, individuals who are infected with salmonella can get sick within one to three days of eating food contaminated with the bacteria, and the symptoms usually disappear on their own.

“The average, healthy adult should be fine in the event of becoming ill from the contaminated chicken. But the most vulnerable [such as the very young or elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and pregnant women] are the ones who are most likely to become very ill, hospitalized, or worse,” says Dr. Detwiler.

People should contact a doctor if they have:

• Bloody stools
• Fever above 101.5°F
• Diarrhea for more than 3 days that is not improving
• Vomiting that prevents you from keeping liquids down
• Signs of dehydration

Minimizing the Risk of Infection

Frank Esper, MD, an infectious disease physician at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said it’s impossible to completely eliminate the risk of contracting salmonella if chicken is contaminated. However, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of food poisoning.

The CDC’s recommendations for handling and preparing chicken include:

• Use a separate cutting board for raw chicken, and wash anything that comes into contact with chicken in hot soapy water.
• Use a food thermometer to make sure that chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F.
• Leftover chicken should be refrigerated or frozen within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if the temperature outside is higher than 90°F.
• When buying raw chicken, put it into a disposable bag so raw juices don’t contaminate your other groceries.
• Wash your hands with warm soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling chicken.
• Do not wash raw chicken before cooking it, because raw juices can spread and contaminate other foods, utensils, and countertops.

RELATED: These 8 Toxic Food Items Made in China are Very Dangerous for Your Health

The post Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella in Chicken Sickens Over a 100 appeared first on Shzboxtoday.