Salmonella Outbreak Linked to a Duck Pen at Privett Hatchery in Portales

The state Department of Health has linked a strain of salmonella that infected over 300 people in 37 states to a duck pen at Privett Hatchery in Portales.

The national outbreak of salmonella has been reported in eastern New Mexico to the area that sells live baby chickens, ducks and other poultry by mail, as well as supply feed stores.

At this time, no deaths have been reported. However, 51 people have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes deadly infections in the very young and the very old, as well as in people who have weakened immune systems, according to the CDC. The foodborne bacterium kills roughly 400 Americans each year, the agency says.

USA Today notes that many have bought baby chickens and other poultry to keep as pets or raise the birds for eggs or meat from the area. 

According to Paul Ettestad, state public health veterinarian, the hatchery is most likely the source of the outbreak as federal officials have found that people sickened with salmonella purchased baby poultry at 113 feed store locations that were supplied by 18 mail order hatcheries from several states, according to the news organization.

However, researchers note that more testing is going on in order to determine the exact source of the infection.