Birders: @CDCgov is investigating a Salmonella outbreak that has been linked to wild song birds. Eight people have been hospitalized in disparate parts of the country. CDC advises being careful about hand hygiene when handling bird feeders, baths. https://t.co/dFYolUphGz
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) April 1, 2021
Probably not necessary to remind y’all about washing your hands, but I ran into this note while aggregating last night’s COVID thread. Two cautions I hadn’t considered: The CDC says you shouldn’t let your pets hang around under bird feeders (they can still watch, from a safe distance), and they suggest you don’t wash birdfeeding equipment in the kitchen, just to be super-sure about avoiding contamination.
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pat
I looked at the report. Map shows most of the cases in the NW, WA and OR, a few in CA, one each in KY, OK, TN, MS.
TaMara (HFG)
This is one of the reasons why I don’t encourage birds in the backyard – the only birdfeeder I have is in front, because they can then start to see the duck food as fair game and spread whatever they are carrying to the ducks.
Cheryl Rofer
I always wear gloves to bleach the birdbaths. If I wash them in a sink, it’s the utility sink. And I use real bleach.
sherparick
@Cheryl Rofer:
I do the same. Wash outside using soap and water & bleach while wearing gloves. Then wash my hands after taking the gloves off.
kindness
I only have hummingbird feeders now. I used to have regular feeders but found I was supporting the local Sparrows & Starlings instead of any other birds. Both those species out here in CA have pretty much ousted all the native birds that used to live around here. I’m not going to feed them. I’m wondering though how you would be able to hang a birdfeeder and keep your dogs & cats from underneath them? Fence it off? Most of us don’t have the yard space to be able to do that. Hang it in a tree over your fence line? Man that is too tacky to imagine. I guess the front yard is doable. I’ll stick with the hummingbird feeders I think.
Antid Oto
These salmonella outbreaks are caused by people not washing their feeders enough, which is causing the disease to spread among the finches that are irrupting throughout the eastern United States this year. Please only put out as many feeders as you can take down and wash *every day*. Otherwise you are spreading disease among wild birds.
They’ll be fine if you don’t feed them. It’s great to bring them to your yard to appreciate, but please wash your feeders.
And keep your cats indoors while you’re at it.
SWMBO
The real question is whether you posted this for John Cole. I assume he’s OCD about washing his hands after dealing with the birbs on his porch. Just a quick reminder not to pet your animals before you wash your hands. We had iguanas once and they use salmonella to digest their food. You had to be militant about hand washing if the kids handled the lizards.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: If it’s not from the Bleach region of France, it’s just a sparkling whitening chemical…
JOHN MANCHESTER
A dear friend of 50 years was washing his bird feeder because of the salmonella. He got cryptococcal meningitis from the feeder (brain fungus), spent a couple of horrible covid-era weeks in the hospital and is only now two months in starting to recover.
So be extra careful cleaning those feeders.
Christine
I would have never thought about something like that.