184 sick, 53 hospitalized and 1 death reported in Washington.

Since the last update on April 23, 2026, 150 new illnesses have been reported, including new outbreak strains of Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Mbandaka.

As of May 4, 2026, a total of 184 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Enteritidis (32 people), Mbandaka (19 people), and Saintpaul (133 people) have been reported from 31 states.

Illnesses started on dates ranging from January 17, 2026, to April 20, 2026.

Of 154 people with information available, 53 (34%) have been hospitalized.

One death has been reported from Washington.

The true number of sick people in an outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella. In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.

State and local public health officials are interviewing people about the animals they came into contact with in the week before they got sick.

Of 141 people interviewed, 110 (78%) reported contact with backyard poultry.

Of 65 patients with Salmonella Saintpaul infections who have specified species of backyard poultry, 51 (78%) reported chicks or chickens and 35 (54%) reported ducklings or ducks.

Of 25 patients with information, 16 (64%) specify Pekin ducks.

Patients included in the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak have more frequently reported contact with ducklings or ducks, specifically Pekin ducks, versus other outbreaks where most patients reported contact with chicks and chickens.

Of 70 people who reported owning backyard poultry, 61 (87%) purchased or obtained poultry since January 1, 2026. People reported getting their poultry from various places. Most reported purchasing from agricultural retail stores. Investigators continue to collect information about where sick people obtained poultry, including what hatcheries supplied the retail stores where people purchased poultry.

These outbreak strains have been linked to 5 hatcheries. CDC is working with state partners to notify the hatcheries of these links and assess any links to upstream suppliers. Additional hatcheries may be linked to these outbreaks as the investigation continues.

Investigators in Ohio collected samples from backyard poultry or from the inside of boxes used to ship poultry from hatcheries to retail stores. WGS showed that the Salmonella Saintpaul and Mbandaka found in these samples were the same strains as those found in sick people.

One hundred and eighty-four human samples, 6 animal samples, and 1 environmental sample were assessed for predicted resistance by WGS analysis. Bacteria from 133 human samples and 6 animal samples predicted resistance to fosfomycin; all fosfomycin-resistant samples (100%) were Salmonella serotype Saintpaul. In addition, 27 human samples had predicted resistance to 1 or more of the following antibiotics: chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, tetracycline, and gentamicin; 32 human samples predicted nonsusceptibility to ciprofloxacin and resistance to nalidixic acid. Nineteen samples (18 human, 1 environmental) had no resistance.

Most people with Salmonella illness recover without antibiotics. However, if antibiotics are needed, Salmonella illness with this predicted resistance may not be treatable with commonly recommended antibiotics and may require a different antibiotic choice. More information is available at the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS).

Salmonella:  Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of Salmonella outbreaks. The Salmonella lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Salmonella and other foodborne illness outbreaks and have recovered over $900 million for clients.  Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our Salmonella lawyers have litigated Salmonella cases stemming from outbreaks traced to a variety of foods, such as cantaloupe, tomatoes, ground turkey, salami, sprouts, cereal, peanut butter, and food served in restaurants.  The law firm has brought Salmonella lawsuits against such companies as Cargill, ConAgra, Peanut Corporation of America, Sheetz, Taco Bell, Subway and Wal-Mart.  

If you or a family member became ill with a Salmonella infection, including Reactive Arthritis or Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark Salmonella attorneys for a free case evaluation.

Additional Resources:

William “Bill” Marler has been the leading food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others. 

Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses.  He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.