Lisa Chelenza knows that not everyone in your family walks on two legs. For helpful tips on taking care of your animal friends, and advice from local veterinary experts, watch Pet Pointers Wednesday and Saturday on YNN. If you have ideas for Pet Pointers segments, email Lisa at petpointers@twcny.rr.com.
Pet Pointers: Salmonella outbreak in pet food
There has been another outbreak of salmonella in pet food, causing several brands to issue recalls as a precaution. Lisa Chelenza has more in this edition of Pet Pointers.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Diamond Pet Foods issued a recall in October and again in April. The company has now expanded a recall of its dry dog food as a precautionary measure, and is now pulling a total of nine brands of its dry dog food from store shelves.
Several of its brands are linked to an outbreak of a rare strain of salmonella poisoning that infected at least 14 people in nine states. The salmonella cases were found in humans who may have had contact with dogs or dog foods prior to their illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is still investigating the outbreak, but said cases could be due to a number of different causes, including cross contamination by people touching the dog food without washing their hands and then handling their own food or through the use of dishes or utensils that came in contact with the dog food, but were not properly cleaned.
Several other food companies, including WellPet and Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods, have also recalled brands as a precaution.
Cases of salmonella poisoning have been reported in Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia as well as New Jersey.
To check if your brand of pet food has been compromised, you can go to www.dogfoodadvisor.com for a list of recent recalls.