More than 220 salmonella cases have been recorded over the last month in the outbreaks covering 41 states, announced the US CDC on Thursday.
The agency believes that the backyard poultry has a connection with these outbreaks.
So far, 279 cases of the disease have been recorded in the ongoing outbreaks, with 40 people getting hospitalised. Fortunately, no cases of death have come to the fore.
Most of the infected people reported about coming in contact with ducklings or chicks from hatcheries, websites as well as agricultural stores. Nearly, one third of those that fell sick were kids aged below 5 years, an age group more prone to complications which might need hospitalization.
This is the twelfth salmonella outbreak which the CDC has linked to backyard poultry since the year 2011.
Though many people recover from salmonella without any treatment after 4 to 7 days, the infection can result in fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea. A severe case of diarrhea might need hospitalization.
There are also a few signs that a few, but not every, salmonella cases in the ongoing outbreaks were resistant to the usual antibiotics, which therefore made it tough to treat them.
The precise sources of the ongoing outbreaks is still unclear, however; the CDC thinks that several live stock hatcheries are responsible.
