SALMONELLA outbreaks attributed to chicken products remained frequent across the United States between 1998 and 2022.
Burden of Salmonella Outbreaks in Chicken
This retrospective national analysis evaluated Salmonella outbreaks attributed to chicken reported through the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System. Across 24 years investigators documented 366 outbreaks causing 10344 illnesses 1426 hospitalizations and 12 deaths. The annual number of Salmonella outbreaks linked to chicken products did not significantly change over time even when stratified by specific chicken product types. These findings underscore that the population level burden of Salmonella linked to chicken remains persistent despite prevention activity. For clinicians Salmonella continues to represent a major foodborne pathogen across routine community care in the United States.
Chicken Product Type and Salmonella Attribution
Identification of the specific chicken product type was available in just over half of all outbreaks. Chicken parts emerged as the most implicated category and represented nearly seven in ten outbreaks with known attribution. Chicken parts were associated with 53.8% of all illnesses in categorized outbreaks. Notably reported outbreaks attributed to chicken parts occurred 5.6 times more often than expected based on sales volume. This differential suggests chicken parts may contribute disproportionately to infection risk relative to market share. Chicken parts should therefore remain a high priority target within national Salmonella risk mitigation frameworks.
Clinical Meaning
Results from this study suggest that multi layered prevention strategies spanning the farm to fork continuum remain necessary to reduce the burden of Salmonella infections. Prevention efforts focused on raw chicken parts may yield the greatest impact.
Reference: Chard AN et al. Salmonella Illness Outbreaks Attributed to Chicken by Product Type United States 1998 2022. J Food Prot. 2025;doi:10.1016/j.jfp.2025.100660.
