Dry Dog Food Linked to Toddlers’ Salmonella Infections

For the first time ever, human infections have been traced to dry pet food. Dozens of toddlers were sickened by salmonella after they touched or ate tainted dry dog food, according to a new report released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Between January 2006 and October 2008, 105 brands of dry dog food were recalled due to an uncommon strain called salmonella schwarzengrund. The western Pennsylvania facility where the food was manufactured, referred to in the report as “Plant X,” was shut down in 2008.

During this three-year period, 79 people were infected with this strain of salmonella, including 32 children younger than 2 years of age. In many of the toddlers’ cases, the dogs were fed in the kitchen.

“It looks as though the children were around the food bowl, handled it, played with it, maybe played with the water in the water bowl, and it was that kind of association that led to the transmission of salmonella,” Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, told ABC News. “It would appear that the little children didn’t eat the pet food, but I would question what parent would admit to that in a questionnaire.”

Based on their findings, the report authors recommend that children younger than 5 not be allowed to touch or eat pet food or treats, and be kept away from pet feeding areas.

They said that all pet food bowls and feeding areas should be routinely cleaned and disinfected. Preferably, pet food bowls and water dishes should not be washed in the kitchen sink.

“The most important thing a person can do is to wash hands right after handling pet food or treats or cleaning up after their pets,” the report’s lead author, Casey Barton Behravesh of the CDC, told the New York Times.

PHOTO: terrierman.com