Snuggling...

 1.2 million Americans contract salmonella every year. The cause is usually food: meat, dairy, or vegetables that contain traces of feces from a salmonella-infected animal.

But lately, people are getting salmonella from showing too much love for their backyard chickens.

Last year, 23 percent of the people who reported contracting salmonella from homegrown fowl had recently kissed their chickens or snuggled them 

Those stats come from Dr. Megin Nichols, who investigates salmonella and E. coli outbreaks at the CDC. Chicken petting and snuggling, it turns out, are high-risk behaviors. While salmonella tends to be associated with industrial food systems, even backyard chicken coops have the potential to be contaminated.

So kiss your chicken good bye and look for a new snuggling partner.