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Upper Cumberland health officials are not seeing an increase in salmonella cases despite a statewide outbreak.
Debbie Hoy is an epidemiologist for the Upper Cumberland Regional Health Office.
“This is very common in the summertime. It’s often times linked to chickens,” Hoy said. “Presently in the United States, there’s a couple different outbreaks that Tennessee has linked some cases to. One is pig ear dog treats, [and] the other that does affect Tennessee is backyard poultry.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports at least 55 Tennesseans have fallen ill this summer due to salmonella.
Hoy said citizens who own and handle poultry or their eggs are more likely to spread the illness.
“Many times they don’t wash their hands – especially young children – after handling or playing with the chickens, or playing in the chicken yard, or handling the outside of the eggs which are known to be contaminated with salmonella also,” Hoy said. “Because they don’t wash their hands, then they handle stuff, food gets in their mouth and they become symptomatic.”
Hoy said people who fall ill due to salmonella can experience a range of symptoms.
“Individuals start having symptoms of abdominal pain, sometimes fever [but] sometimes not, and then diarrhea,” Hoy said. “It can be self-limiting, but sometimes it does need antibiotics to totally eradicate it.”
According to the CDC, over 700 people have become sick from salmonella across the United States. Tennessee’s 55 cases ranks second in reported cases behind Ohio with 62.
