Salmonella bacteria affects chicken meat; infections on the rise
US - The Unites States Agriculture Department has another worry on its hands – evidence suggests that the salmonella bacteria usually present in eggs has now spread to include chicken meat.
21 November 2006
2 minute read
Of the various kinds of salmonella, enteritidis, the most common one has now mutated into a strain, causing it to occur more frequently in both, eggs and chicken meat.
Earlier contaminated eggs would contract the bacteria externally, through exposure with fecal bacteria. However, in the past few years, the bacteria has been observed even inside eggs that have been disinfected and intact.
Experts suggest that now a strain of salmonella enteritidis can work from inside the ovaries of hen, spreading the bacteria to the egg even prior to the shell being formed. Added, the germ has also been detected in the meat of broiler chicken, as confirmed in the latest issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal called Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Statistics claim that in 2005, instances of salmonella enteritidis had increased fourfold compared to the number of cases in 2000. Added, the area over which the disease has spread has also increased to 24 states from the earlier 14. 40,000 people in the United States are affected by salmonella enteritidis annually, of which in 600 cases, the infection proves fatal.
Source: EarthTimes
