Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
Could your backyard chickens have more germs than a commercial chicken farm? New study says, yes.
A new study from the North Carolina State University found that backyard chicken flocks have nearly twice the amount of Campylobacter bacteria, compared to commercial poultry farms. Salmonella bacteria are also higher in these backyard birds too!
Both Campylobacter and Salmonella bacteria are commonly associated with chickens. Both backyard chickens and those from commercial poultry farms.
Campylobacter and Salmonella bacteria are commonly associated with poultry products
These bacteria are responsible for a considerable amount of foodborne illness in the United States each year.
In fact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1.5 million people become sick from Campylobacter bacteria each year. Salmonella is not far behind with an estimated 1.35 million infections.
Food is the most common source.
Both Campylobacter and Salmonella infections are concerns for those consuming chicken from commercial poultry farms, however the risk associated with backyard chickens are often overlooked.
“Not my adorable fluffy butts! They have to be safer than larger farms.”
Wrong!
In fact, a recent Salmonella outbreak associated with backyard chickens proves this.
So far there have been 195 illnesses linked to backyard chickens associated with this outbreak across 38 states. There have been at least 50 cases serious enough to require hospitalization, with 17 new ones added just in the last update.
While the CDC is calling this an outbreak, there is no single source for all of these illnesses. These backyard chickens have been obtained from many different hatcheries, in many different states. However, the overall common factor remains the same.
Backyard chickens from personal flocks.
Turns out, these little breakfast makers may pose more risk than most people recognize.
This study was put together to determine the prevalence and potential impact of antimicrobial resistant Campylobacter bacteria in both the backyard chicken environment and commercial poultry farm environment.
With broiler chicken as the top consumed meat worldwide and backyard chickens becoming more mainstream in the United States, these researchers wanted to determine if backyard chickens posed similar risks.
The findings were startling!
This North Carolina University study sampled 10 backyard chicken flocks and 10 integrated commercial broiler farms, following both sets of flocks through their production cycles. Three different samples over the course of over a month were collected.
Environmental samples from the soil, litter/compost, feeders, and waterers were collected.
Results found that backyard chicken flocks harbor twice as many germs as commercial poultry farms.
Backyard Chicken Flocks Harbor Twice as Many Germs as Commercial Poultry Farms
A significant 21.9% of samples from those backyard flocks contained the harmful bacteria, Campylobacter. Their commercial counterparts had a Campylobacter rate of 12.2%.
Most of these Campylobacter isolates were from the potentially fatal Campylobacter jejuni strain followed by Campylobacter coli.
While antibiotic resistance was found in both backyard chicken flocks and commercial broiler farms, higher levels of resistance were observed in the commercial environment.
Overall, 40.2% of all Campylobacter bacteria discovered showed resistance to the commonly used human antibiotic ciprofloxacin and 46.6% to tetracycline.
A notably higher proportion of these resistant bacteria were found on commercial farms.
Antibiotic resistance is a term used to describe the inability of a certain antibiotic medication to successfully kill an infection with a particular bacteria.
How does it happen?
When bacteria are exposed to different environments, the cells mutate. Or rather, small mutations that would normally occur take over, as they are better adapted to survive the environment the bacteria were exposed to.
In the case of antibiotic resistance, if bacteria survive exposure to an antibiotic, they often become immune to its effects.
This can happen in a variety of ways:
Antibiotic resistance is a very bad situation.
But why?
Say you are diagnosed with a Salmonella or Campylobacter infection. Initial diagnosis is based on a laboratory test that screens for the germs of interest. It may say, you have Campylobacter in your system. However, additional more specialized tests are needed to determine what strain or other factors to treat. Those take time to come back from the laboratory.
Your healthcare provider will likely get you started with the most common antibiotic used to treat your particular infection. In general, this would be the antibiotic that takes care of this bacteria most successfully.
Unfortunately, if you happen to have a strain resistant to that drug, your treatment will not be successful. This may require additional testing to test your sample against other antibiotic medications.
Meanwhile, you are still sick. For serious and potentially life-threatening infections, time is of the essence.
Food manufacturers are not supposed to administer commonly used human antibiotics with their animals to avoid this situation altogether.
The CDC suggests five simple steps to help minimize risks associated with backyard chickens to protect yourself and your family.
It sounds simple enough, and it is a rule of thumb for helping prevent many different types of illnesses. The CDC recommends washing your hands.
Always wash your hands with soap and water after handing your backyard poultry, their eggs, or really anything in their environment.
If soap and water aren’t available, have hand sanitizer nearby and wash your hands as soon as possible.
While you may want to snuggle, cuddle, kiss, or otherwise show affection to your chickens, direct contact should be avoided. Also, avoid eating or drinking around them. Contact with your face, mouth, and hands that may touch your face or mouth can spread these harmful germs.
Do not bring poultry-related supplies inside your house. Keep all feed containers and chicken accessories outside. If possible, keep shoes worn inside the coop outside the house as well.
Always supervise chicken around backyard poultry. Children under five years old should not handles chicks or ducklings due to their increased risk of illness. Always ensure children wash hands properly after coming into contact with backyard chickens or their environment. Even if they do not actually touch anything.
Frequent egg collection can minimize risk of exposure to harmful germs. Always discard cracked eggs and clean dirty eggs with a brush or cloth. Refrigerate eggs promptly to reduce bacterial growth. Always cook eggs thoroughly (to an internal temperature of 160° F).
You may be thinking, “Does this risk mean I shouldn’t have backyard chickens?”
For some with more vulnerable people in their homes, this may be a sign to wait a bit before starting your own backyard chicken flock.
However, most people can mitigate the risk by taking simple precautions. Awareness and safety are always at the forefront of contact with any animal.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “Could Your Backyard Chickens Have More Germs Than a Commercial Chicken Farm?,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)
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