Chicken snuggling: A dangerous trend that must end

America has a chicken snuggling problem. That's right, snuggling. Not smuggling. Chicken smuggling is an entirely different — albeit equally despicable — problem that I'll address in a future column.The pressing poultry issue for today is that too many Americans are pressing poultry to their faces, giving pet chickens or adorable, fuzzy chicks a hug or a kiss.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with a number of state departments of health and agriculture are investigating a multistate outbreak of salmonella infections "linked to contact with live poultry in backyard flocks." As of May 25, there were 372 people from 47 states infected, and 71 of those people were hospitalized. About a third of the victims were from the key chicken snuggling demographic: children under 5.Last year set the record for salmonella infections caused by interactions with backyard poultry flocks. The CDC recorded 895 people infected, with 209 of them hospitalized. Three of the people who were hospitalized died.