Salmonella Contamination In Dry Dog Food (And Who Knows? Maybe Cat Food??)

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Yeesh,...what next? Just when you thought it was safe to feed your dog dry pet food, there are new reports that there are many incidents of salmonella poisoning and it's linked with dry dog pet foods, although the news media hasn't given out any specific name brands. This poisoning "supposedly" (my quotes) doesn't affect the dogs that are fed this dry food or treats, but only people who handle the dry dog food, especially children, and it is suggested that anyone handling any dry dog pet food to wash their hands. Now so far it seems only dry dog food has this contamination...my wonder...what about dry cat food as well? As I said no mention is given to any specific brands...great, huh? Here's some excerpts from the one of the articles I found about this occurrence (quote) [i].."THURSDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- An outbreak of Salmonella infections in people has been traced to contaminated dry dog food, the first time such a link has been uncovered, U.S. officials said Thursday. And, Salmonella infections from dry dog food may be an under-recognized source of illness in people, especially young children, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. "This is the first time human illness has been linked to dry dog food," said CDC epidemiologist Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, who co-authored a report on the finding. The CDC isn't sure how the Salmonella bacteria got into the dog food, Barton Behravesh said. "There are a number of possible ways that that could happen, and that's something we are still trying to figure out," she said, adding that there have been previous cases of people contracting Salmonella infection from contaminated pet treats. The incidents of people becoming infected with Salmonella from dry dog food occurred in 2006 and 2007. An estimated 70 people, mostly in the Northeast, were infected by dog food produced by Mars Petcare at its Pennsylvania plant. About 40 percent of those infections involved infants, according to the report, published in the May 16 issue of the CDC'sMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Most of the cases occurred in Pennsylvania (29), New York (nine) and Ohio (seven). There were also reported cases in Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia..... Infection with the Salmonella bacteria produces an illness called salmonellosis. According to the CDC, most infected people develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours. The illness typically lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. But, for some, the diarrhea may be so severe that they need to be hospitalized. In these patients, the infection can spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other parts of the body, leading to death unless antibiotics are administered promptly. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness. Salmonella infection typically comes from undercooked eggs, poultry, or meat, but can also result from direct contact with farm animals, reptiles and pets. To prevent infection, the CDC recommends washing your hands immediately after handling the food, including dry dog food. "The most important thing is to wash your hands right after you handle any dry dog food, any other pet food, pet treats, even supplements or vitamins," Barton Behravesh said. "In addition, keep infants and other young children away from pet food, because kids tend to want to see what their dogs are eating and grab at the pet food and play with it or even put it in their mouth...." [/i] The entire article is here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051502363.html All right..they say dogs aren't affected by this salmonella contaminated pet food...oh??? Really?? After the incident last year in March with that massive pet food recall, I think any pet owner, dog or cat is going to be really hesitant about feeding their beloved pets anything commercially made by pet food companies, especially with this latest report...and ironically NO PET FOOD company is making any recalls So if you have dogs (and/or cats) have you noticed any signs of illness in yourself from giving dry food to your pets??...have any of your pets have some illness lately?