A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows an uptick in salmonella cases due to more and more people keeping and raising chickens. How do you get salmonella from a chicken, you ask? Take a wild guess.
An alarming number of people have apparently contracted it from kissing their fine fowl companions. According to the CDC's research, 13% of the chicken-related salmonella cases they studied from 1990 to 2014 were due, in part, to some human-on-chicken smooching.
Of the cases they studied, the CDC says, "Most contact occurred at the patients' home, and high-risk behaviors included keeping poultry inside the house and having close contact, such as holding, snuggling, or kissing poultry."
Yes, our affinity for our chicken friends doesn't stop at kissing -- 49% of patients studied said they had snuggled baby chicks, and 46% of the CDC's respondents kept chickens in the house.
Wait, that's not all. A whole 10% of respondents said they kept chickens in their BEDROOM.
What the cluck?
