Poultry carries salmonella. Everybody knows this. It's why you don't ask for your turkey burger medium-rare, and why "chicken sashimi" is still not a thing. (At least not here.)

The only people who don't know—ironically—seem to also be the same people who have taken up the booming hobby of raising their own chickens in their backyards. According to a report by NPR, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has had to issue a warning to them telling them not to get too intimate with their new feathered friends because it's apparently resulting in an explosion of salmonella cases. More than 180 cases, to be exact, or nearly 200 people who have caught salmonella from backyard chickens alone.

If it was all being caused by a lack of hand washing, that would be one thing, but Megin Nichols, a veterinarian with the CDC interviewed by NPR, specifically called out "snuggling" (ew), "kissing" (double ew), and "touching them to your mouth" (extra Kentucky-fried ew) as strictly off-limit chicken no-nos. The only thing she didn't add was "obviously", because, I mean, c'mon, who would do that?

NPR had an interview with one chicken enthusiast, who explained their rational:

"This is my favorite, Caledonia," Lynette Mattke says as she holds a sturdy, black and white Barred Rock hen. "I think she's the prettiest, too."

In clear defiance of the new CDC guidance issued this month against chicken/human cuddling, Caledonia is a snuggler.

"You see Caledonia, she just cuddles in. She loves to stick her head under my arm," Mattke says.

Meanwhile, chicken owners be like....

Related Stories for GQHealthHealth