Dog owners sickened with drug resistant Salmonella after touching treats

CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are investigating a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to contact with pig ear dog treats that includes Massachusetts and New York.

As of July 2, 2019, a total of 45 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from 13 states including Massachusetts. 12 have been hospitalized.

Illnesses started on dates ranging from November 18, 2018, to June 13, 2019. Ill people range in age from less than 1 year to 81 years, with a median age of 23. Half (50%) of ill people are female. Of 39 ill people with information available, 12 (31%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Illnesses might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 4 weeks.

Public health investigators are using the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that may be part of this outbreak. PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health laboratories coordinated by CDC. DNA fingerprinting is performed on Salmonella bacteria isolated from ill people by using standardized laboratory and data analysis techniques called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). CDC PulseNet manages a national database of these DNA fingerprints to identify possible outbreaks. WGS gives a more detailed DNA fingerprint than PFGE. WGS showed that bacteria isolated from ill people were closely related genetically. This means that people in this outbreak are more likely to share a common source of infection.