AUDIO: STOP KISSING YOUR CHICKEN
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reiterating its alert that kissing chickens can lead to contracting salmonella. The CDC reported in a study released Wednesday that the increased popularity of backyard poultry flocks has coincided with an uptick in salmonella outbreaks associated with live poultry. The CDC looked at cases that occurred between 1990 and 2014 and found that some people affected were engaging in risky behaviors – including cuddling, kissing and, in some cases, letting their chickens roam in their bedrooms and bathrooms. Of the CDC’s sample incidents, 62 percent of patients reported exposure to baby poultry, which includes chicks and ducklings. Of that 62 percent:
– 49 percent reported cuddling with baby poultry.
– 46 percent reported letting them in their their living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms.
– 13 percent reported kissing baby poultry.
The CDC reminds you that even if your backyard chicken, duck or turkey looks clean, it still carries bacteria and can shed salmonella intermittently. So be sure to wash your hands any time you come into contact with live poultry.
* Like after you choke your chicken.
* What? I’m saying if you wring the chicken’s neck before preparing it for the oven, wash your hands. Sheesh!
* Okay, we have a nomination for creepiest story of the year.
* Stop kissing your chickens, and stop doing that other thing you do with your sheep.
* Look, if you got a chicken in the bedroom, I don’t care what you’re doing with it – you’re going to prison.
* Don’t worry, some coyotes have volunteered to solve the problem.
* If chickens have salmonella, do salmon have chickenella?
* I never thought I’d miss talking about the Zika virus.
CLIP: Our “Backyard Chicken” song parody.
