Antibiotic Resistance Ups Salmonella Hospitalizations: CDC

Because of antibiotic resistance, 42 percent of patients stricken with salmonella tied to a California chicken farm have required hospitalization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.

The outbreak's investigation, which has been hampered by the U.S. government shutdown, got a boost Wednesday with the announcement that 30 furloughed CDC employees were being called back to work.

"Ten were brought back to work on foodborne outbreaks," CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said.

So far, 278 people from 17 states have been reported ill from chickens traced to three Foster Farms plants in California. About 42 percent of the 183 patients for whom information is available have been hospitalized -- 76 in all -- which is an unusually high rate for Salmonella Heidelberg, said CDC spokesman John O'Connor.