Salmonellosis is spread to people by ingestion of Salmonella bacteria that contaminate food.Salmonella-contaminated eggs from several U.S. producers that have caused the recall of over 500 million eggs.
- Contamination can come from animal or human feces that contact the food during its processing or harvesting.
Although typhoid and paratyphoid fever can be transmitted by the same methods as mentioned above salmonellosis, the most common form of transmission is via the faeces of people infected by contamination of food or water source uninfected people.
Three ways that Salmonella is reportedly transmitted in hens:
- Direct surface contamination of eggs by contact with Salmonella-contaminated feed, feces, and cage material
- Salmonella organisms transferred from hen ovaries to the yolk before the shell is formed in the hen's body
- After the egg is laid and its surface contaminated with Salmonella, some of the bacteria reportedly can penetrate the shell and migrate to the yolk
Once a "farm factory" gets Salmonella contamination, most of the hens and many of their eggs become contaminated. This cross-contamination in egg-producing facilities is usually due to lack of sanitary facilities and poor housing conditions for the hens. Many times, egg-producing hens are contaminated from outside sources, such as cattle feces and rodent feces due to poor quality control in feed and hen cage conditions. Currently, the FDA (and even the FBI) are looking into this ongoing egg recall to help determine if some producers have been negligent, especially in the housing methods used for poultry.
