--- title: CDC: Hugging Chickens Increases Salmonella Risk description: Hugging, kissing or snuggling chickens and other birds could lead to salmonella infections, according to a new CDC report. canonical: https://time.com/4808992/cdc-chickens-salmonella/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-07T17:23:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:18:21.407Z article:section: Health og:title: Why You Really Shouldn't Hug Chickens og:description: It could lead to salmonella og:url: https://time.com/4808992/cdc-chickens-salmonella/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt636233cde680c44d/6988d0a497cdffd1056b1138/backyard-chicken-salmonella.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 7: Mark Vershell and his backyard chi og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why You Really Shouldn't Hug Chickens twitter:description: It could lead to salmonella twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt636233cde680c44d/6988d0a497cdffd1056b1138/backyard-chicken-salmonella.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why You Really Shouldn't Hug Chickens by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 7, 2017 5:23 PM UTC  Mark Vershell and his backyard chickens in Takoma Park, Md. Mark Vershell and his backyard chickens in Takoma Park, Md.The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 7, 2017 5:23 PM UTC Hugging, kissing or snuggling chickens and other birds could lead to [salmonella infections](http://time.com/4726827/hunts-chili-kits-recalled-salmonella/), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a report published in June, the CDC links a [multi-state outbreak of salmonella](http://time.com/4184466/trader-joes-cashew-recall-salmonella/) to human contact with live poultry that live in backyards. From January to May 2017, 372 people have been infected with salmonella from 47 states. Of those infected, 71 people have been hospitalized; 36% of them are children younger than the age of 5. According to the [CDC’s research](https://www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellapoultry/index.html), the salmonella outbreaks came after people handled live poultry, such as chicks and ducklings. Of 228 infected people, 190 said they had contact with live poultry about a week before they saw salmonella symptoms. Now the CDC advises that people always wash their hands after any physical contact with chickens, ducks and other live poultry that are popular backyard pets. Those with weakened immune systems should avoid handling live poultry altogether. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4808992/cdc-chickens-salmonella/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4808992/cdc-chickens-salmonella/"},"headline":"Why You Really Shouldn't Hug Chickens","datePublished":"2017-06-07T17:23:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:18:21.407Z","description":"It could lead to salmonella","url":"https://time.com/4808992/cdc-chickens-salmonella/","keywords":["Salmonella","Chickens","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt636233cde680c44d/6988d0a497cdffd1056b1138/backyard-chicken-salmonella.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt636233cde680c44d/6988d0a497cdffd1056b1138/backyard-chicken-salmonella.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 7: Mark Vershell and his backyard chi","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 7: Mark Vershell and his backyard chi","creditText":"The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/salmonella/","name":"Salmonella"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4808992/cdc-chickens-salmonella/","name":"Why You Really Shouldn't Hug Chickens"}}]}] ```