The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging people to be on the lookout for salmonella outbreaks linked to backyard poultry such as chickens, roosters, chicks and ducks after more than 200 illnesses were linked to the bacteria so far this year.
Backyard poultry, such as chickens and ducks, can carry salmonella germs even if they look healthy and clean, the agency said.
These germs can easily spread to any location in the areas where poultry live and roam.
People, he said, can get sick by touching backyard poultry or anything in their environment and then touching their mouth or food and swallowing salmonella germs.
So far, 219 illnesses have been reported in 38 states, including California, and 27 people have been hospitalized, while one in four people who have fallen ill are children under the age of 5.
The outbreak has already claimed the life of one person in Tennessee, so the agency is calling for vigilance for possible infections.