The Centres for Disease
Control (CDC) reports that at least 56 people became sick after contact with
calves, most of them dairy calves from Wisconsin.
It means farming families should
be cautious about very young children coming in contact with calves, especially
ones that are sick.
CDC, several states, and
the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(USDA-APHIS) investigated a 15-states outbreak of
multidrug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg infections.
Thirty five per cent of the
infected people were hospitalized. No deaths were reported.
Thirty-five per cent were children
younger than five.
Some of the ill people
interviewed reported that they became sick after their calves became sick or
died.
Surveillance in veterinary
diagnostic laboratories showed that calves in several states were infected with
the outbreak strains of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Heidelberg.
