This is one of these “I’m not sure it’s really news” stories, but I guess is should be because it’s still a problem. We know there is a clear link between reptiles and Salmonella in people. Reptiles are common carriers of this bacterium, and human infections from handling reptiles or having contact with their environment
Raw diet risks…Study results vs headlines
A recent study looked at human illness associated with raw pet food and has led to headlines such as “It is safe to feed raw pet foods.”
Did the study say that? No, it did not.
If you asked 100 people if they had a foodborne disease in the past year, I assume
Biohazardous backyard chickens
A recently published University of Guelph study evaluating pet poultry flocks found (unsurprisingly) high rates of shedding of certain concerning bacteria (Brochu et al, J Vet Diagn Invest 2019).
- Campylobacter, an important cause of gastrointestinal disease in people, was present in 36% of tested chickens. Salmonella was less common but present in
Update: Pig ear treat / Salmonella outbreak
There’s nothing too surprising in the latest CDC update on the US outbreak of salmonellosis linked to pig ear treats. People continue to get sick, which is the frustrating aspect, since this has been a known issue for a while and has been communicated extensively.
At last report (yesterday), the total case number was
Pig ear treat warning
As the US salmonellosis outbreak linked to contaminated pig ear treats continues, the FDA and CDC are now taking the additional step of advising people to avoid all pig ear treats and for retailers to stop selling them. As the investigation continues, links to treats imported from Argentina and Brazil have been made, but
Update: US Salmonella/dog treat outbreak
The multi-state outbreak of salmonellosis linked to pig ear treats continues in the US. In the latest CDC report on the outbreak, 48 new infections have been added to the investigation since July 3, and 3 new Salmonella types are now involved (Salmonella Infantis, London and Newport). This brings them to a total
“Dad, a chick pooped on me”
How’s this for timing? As I was writing the post below, my youngest daughter walked in the door and said “a chick pooped on me today.”
It wasn’t a total surprise since I’d heard a vague statement from her about maybe having chicks in the class for the end of the year.
Is
Raw pet food recall and human illness, Minnesota, USA
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has recalled some lots of raw pet food from Woody’s Pet Food Deli, after linking them to a human infection. The link isn’t definite, but was obviously enough to prompt a recall.
The situation involves a person who developed salmonellosis and, as is typical, an investigation of possible sources
Raw pet food and human salmonellosis
We’ve known for some time that there are human health risks from feeding pets raw meat-based diets. Most of the evidence of this has been anecdotal, as published reports have been sparse. A few better documented reports have started to appear, including the fatal E. coli O157 infection I wrote about recently.
A few days
CDC didn’t actually say “don’t dress up your chickens for Halloween”…but don’t do it anyway
Lots of media reports have been saying that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned people not to dress up their chickens for Halloween.
- Yes, chickens.
I wouldn’t have thought that policing chicken fashion would be high on the CDC’s to-do list, but the concern is obviously related to the perpetual