I thought some might be interested in this in light of the Clinton egg thread.
From the NY Times 2/25/00 There is also an article about how drought will be
affecting us in the coming years.
That Cuddly Duckling Can Make You Ill
By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Salmonella is most commonly associated with eating contaminated food, but
federal health officials are now noting other sources: baby chicks and
ducklings.
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns
that merely handling the young birds -- as children sometimes do, especially
around Easter -- can transmit the disease, which causes diarrhea, vomiting
and fever and can be especially dangerous to children.
The report noted two outbreaks last year among people who had handled baby
birds. In Michigan, 21 people were infected, three of whom were hospitalized.
In some cases, young birds were kept in homes, and one boy kept the birds in
his bedroom and even in his jacket.
The outbreak in Missouri infected 40 people. Again, three were hospitalized.
The disease is spread from animals when people touch infected feces and then
touch their mouths.
Other animals, especially reptiles, also pose a threat.
Health officials urged that people wash their hands carefully after handling
fowl and said the animals might not be appropriate pets for children.
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 11 2000 - 22:02:12 EDT