Federal and state public health officials say contact with backyard poultry has resulted in nearly 200 cases of Salmonella food poisoning is in 38 states.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the outbreaks involved seven strains of Salmonella infections.
The illnesses began Feb. 18 and were recorded through May 30, with 50 of the 136 people for which information was available being hospitalization, CDC said in a news release.
Public health officials collected different types of information from people who became sick during the outbreak, including age, ethnicity, race and other data, including the types of animals they may have come into contact with before they became sick.
No deaths from the outbreaks have been reported, CDC said.
The agency believes the actual number of people sickened by Salmonella is likely much higher than the current reported numbers, mostly because many people recover without seeking medical care and are not tested for Salmonella at all.
Recent illnesses also may not have been reported so far because it usually takes up to four weeks to determine whether a sick individual is part of a larger outbreak, the CDC said.
