Follow these steps for protecting yourself and others while enjoying your backyard flock: 
 
 Mail-order hatcheries should provide health-related information to owners and potential purchasers before they buy any birds (see example below). This should include information about preventing Salmonella infections from contact with live poultry. 
 
 A flier [PDF – 1 page] describing the risk of human Salmonella infections from contact with live poultry and prevention recommendations is available. 
 
 Mail-order hatcheries should put interventions in place to help prevent contamination and infection of poultry with Salmonella: 
 
 Mail-order hatcheries should participate in the USDA-NPIP U.S. Salmonella Monitored Program [PDF – 17 pages], in which voluntary participation by mail-order hatcheries will certify their flocks are monitored for Salmonella bacteria that may cause illness in humans. The intent of this program is to reduce the incidence of Salmonella in day-old poultry in the hatchery and give the poultry industry a better opportunity to reduce the incidence of Salmonella in their products. ||||| COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Is investigating outbreaks of Salmonella in 47 states, including Ohio, connected to backyard flocks. 
 
 As of May 25, 372 people had been infected since Jan. 4. In Ohio, 32 cases were reported to the Ohio Department of Health between Jan. 4 and June 2, said Melanie Amato, public information officer for the department. 
 
 Ohio topped the list of states that reported illnesses, followed by Kentucky, Tennessee and California. 
 
 The outbreaks occurred in Lorain, Ashtabula, Erie and Geauga counties in Northeast Ohio, as well as counties in central and Southeast Ohio, Amato said. 
 
 There were no reports in Cuyahoga or other Northeast Ohio counties. 
 
 The CDC reported that across the nation, 71 illnesses have resulted in hospitalization, and no deaths have been reported. Ill people reported purchasing live baby poultry from feed supply stores, websites, hatcheries and other sources, the CDC said in a statement. 
 
 Salmonella lives in the intestinal tract of many different animals, and can also be passed from person to person. 
 
 The disease is spread by contact with infected chickens, ducks and other poultry. In humans, Salmonella causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps, but doesn't cause symptoms in poultry. 
 
 "You feel yucky for a couple of days," Amato said. "Most symptoms go away on their own." 
 
 Salmonella tends to flourish in spring and summer as the warm weather allows the disease to flourish. Outbreaks resulting from contact with live poultry have increased in recent years as backyard flocks grow in popularity, the CDC said. 
 
 The CDC recommends these steps for the safe handling of backyard flocks: 
 
 Always wash your hands thoroughly after touching live poultry or anything in their pens. 
 
 Don't let chickens or ducks inside the house, on a deck or inside an outdoor kitchen where food is prepared. 
 
 Children younger than 5 years, adults older than 65, and people with weakened immune systems should not handle or touch chicks, ducklings, or other live poultry. 
 
 Don't hug or kiss chickens and ducks. 
 
 Don't take poultry equipment, such as cages or water containers, inside the house for cleaning. 
 
 If you collect eggs from your hens, follow safe handling tips: ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.
– The CDC is investigating eight separate multi-state outbreaks of salmonella that have sickened nearly 400 people across the country. The cause, however, isn't an unsanitary factory. Instead, blame backyard chickens, or at least owners who underestimate the risk of getting too close, reports the Fresno Bee. The growing popularity of having a home-grown source of eggs once again has federal officials issuing a warning. This year's numbers are about on par with last year's, when 895 people got sick. While three people died last year, none have died this year, though 71 have ended up in the hospital. In all, people in 47 states have fallen ill. Cuddling cute baby chicks appears to be a problem, notes the Washington Post. Last year, about half of those who got sick admitted to doing so, and about half also said they let their poultry in the house. Health officials say both practices are seriously unwise, given how easily chickens can spread germs. The hardest-hit state is Ohio, at 32 cases, with Kentucky, Tennessee, and California not far behind, reports Cleveland.com. “Chicks, ducklings, and other live poultry that look healthy and clean can still carry Salmonella bacteria,” says the CDC, which offers a fact sheet on best practices here. (Salmonella is no joke—just ask the Aztecs.)