By Jack Phillips
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said it is investigating an outbreak of salmonella bacterial infections in backyard poultry in more than a dozen states.
In an update released April 23, the CDC said that 34 people in 13 states have been sickened with the Salmonella Saintpaul strain, although the CDC cautioned that “the true number of sick people in an outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses.”
Many people can recover with medical care and do not get tested for salmonella, the CDC said. Moreover, recent cases may not be reported to the federal health agency because it takes three to four weeks to determine whether a sickened individual is connected to the outbreak, the agency said.
Reported salmonella illnesses started on dates that extend from Feb. 26 through March 31, the agency said. No deaths have been reported, while 13 people out of 27 for whom information was available were hospitalized, it added.
“Epidemiologic, traceback, and laboratory data show that contact with backyard poultry is making people sick,” the CDC said. It said that of 29 people who were interviewed by the agency, 23 reported contact with backyard poultry.
Of 14 people who told the CDC they owned backyard poultry, 13 of them said they had obtained or purchased the animals since Jan. 1, the agency said.
“People reported getting their poultry from various places, including agricultural retail stores,” the CDC said. “Investigators continue to collect information about where sick people obtained poultry and what hatcheries supplied the retail stores where ill people purchased poultry.”
The CDC report did not provide details on whether the sickened people had contact with chickens, turkeys, ducks, or other birds. It also didn’t provide the names of any retail stores.
Bacteria that were obtained from the 34 case samples included eight samples that appeared resistant to several antibiotics, including chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline, according to the agency.
Salmonella Saintpaul has previously been linked to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses worldwide, according to a report published in the National Library of Medicine in 2025. It currently “ranks as one of the top ten most frequently detected serovars in humans and animals globally, accounting for approximately 1.6 percent of severe salmonella infections,” the report said.
The report stated that there have been outbreaks in 2008, 2009, and 2013 linked to cucumbers, peppers, and alfalfa sprouts primarily sourced from Mexico. In the 2008 outbreak 1,442 people were sickened across 43 states and the District of Columbia, which led to two deaths and 286 hospitalizations.
Salmonella Saintpaul symptoms generally appear from six hours to three days after exposure, and include diarrhea that is sometimes bloody, fever, and abdominal cramps. Vomiting, headaches, nausea, and chills are also symptoms, according to health officials.
The CDC said people with backyard poultry should wash their hands with soap and water after handling poultry, their eggs, or anything in the area where they live or roam. People are advised not to snuggle with or kiss backyard poultry or to drink or eat around them.
Children should be supervised around the animals and should wash their hands afterward, according to the CDC. Children under the age of 5 are also advised not to handle ducks, chicks, chickens, or other poultry or spend time in areas where they live.
