Easter Warning: Cute Baby Chicks Carry Diseases

ENUMCLAW, WA - No matter how cute and fluffy they are, the state Department of Health wants you to remember: baby chickens can carry some pretty nasty diseases. The Easter holiday often brings kids and adults into close contact with baby chicks and ducks, but no matter how clean they look, the baby birds can carry salmonella. Uncooked eggs can also carry salmonella, even on the surface of the shell.

If your Easter celebration includes baby chicks, here are some tips from the state to avoid contracting salmonella, which is a very dangerous infection:

• Wash hands with soap and water after touching chicks and ducklings. It is the single most important thing you can do! When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based hand wipes and gel sanitizers may be used. Sanitizers may not be as effective if hands are too dirty. Clean off as much dirt as possible before using sanitizers.

• Young poultry are not good pets for children under 5 years old. Raising poultry can be a great experience, but sometimes adults make the mistake of giving a chick or duckling to a young child as a spontaneous gift. Young poultry given as pets to children often don't survive, and if they do, they aren't as cute and cuddly when they're adults. Young children are also more at risk from severe illness from Salmonella.

• Supervise children when handling poultry. Don't allow children to nuzzle or kiss chicks and ducklings, touch their mouths with their hands, or eat and drink while handling birds.
  
• Keep young poultry away from family living spaces. Keep birds and their equipment out of the kitchen. Disinfect areas where feeders, water containers, and cages are cleaned.

Image via Pixabay