Salmonella in Backyard Poultry: Prevalence, Outbreaks, Trends, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Emerging Risks

Salmonella infections associated with backyard poultry in the United States are on a steady rise, corresponding to the increase in backyard poultry farming. Over the past decade, the CDC has reported a total of 9,923 cases of human salmonellosis across multiple states linked with backyard poultry, most of them involving multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains, underscoring the significance and sustained public health threat. This review evaluates and synthesizes national surveillance data, outbreak reports, and published studies to examine the prevalence, serotype distribution, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns, and epidemiological trends of Salmonella in backyard poultry from 2012 to 2025. Investigations of multistate outbreaks in these 14 years showed consistent involvement of six serotypes: Enteritidis, Infantis, Typhimurium, Hadar, Indiana, and Mbandaka, with Enteritidis and Infantis being the most common (11 times each in 14 years) and Infantis demonstrating early and recurrent MDR profiles. Children < 5 years represented close to a third of all cases. Epidemiological data point to multiple factors contributing to ongoing spread, including hatchery-level contamination, limited biosecurity, close human-animal interactions, and involvement of environmental reservoirs such as wildlife. Local studies from Maryland and California showed the presence of MDR Salmonella in backyard birds, with MDR observed across several antimicrobial classes. Very little is known and documented about the use of antibiotics in backyard poultry, and it often lacks veterinary oversight, raising AMR concerns. Though the FDA rules limit the use of medically important drugs in livestock and poultry, surveillance mostly focuses on commercial farms. This review highlights the need to expand AMR surveillance to include backyard flocks, improve hatchery sanitation, and strengthen public education on safe animal handling, which are essential steps toward reducing this growing public health risk.