2020 Multistate Outbreak of Salmonellosis Linked to Backyard Poultry
In May 2020 the CDC and public health officials investigated an outbreak of Salmonella infections linked to contact with backyard poultry such as chicks and ducklings. On December 17, 2020 the outbreak was declared over. There were 1,722 reported cases residing in all 50 states. A total of 333 people were hospitalized. There was one death in Oklahoma. Illnesses started on dates from January 14, 2020 to November 27, 2020.
Whole genome sequencing performed on Salmonella bacteria isolated from 1,641 ill people and two environmental samples showed predicted antibiotic resistance to one or more antibiotics for 848 isolates. There was no antibiotic resistance predicted for 795 (48.4%) isolates. Testing of 13 outbreak isolates using standard antibiotic susceptibility testing by CDC’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) laboratory showed resistance to streptomycin and tetracycline in 3 isolates and no resistance in 10 isolates (fosfomycin and kanamycin were not tested by this method).
Tags:
salmonellosis, backyard chickens, backyard flocks, ducklings, ducksOverview
| Outbreak began: | February 2020 |
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| Affected country: | US |
| States/territories: | AL, AK, AS, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY |
| Pathogen: | Salmonella Hadar, Salmonella Newport, Salmonella Braenderup, Salmonella Muenchen, Salmonella Thompson, Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Agona, Salmonella Anatum, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Mbandaka, Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:-, Salmonella Ealing |
| Vehicle(s): | Animal Contact |
| Location(s): | Private Home |
| Molecular test results: | Not reported |
Health impact
| Total ill: | 1722 |
|---|---|
| Number hospitalized: | 333 |