babychicken

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more reasons to stop kissing your chickens -- and persuade you leave them outside.

Last year, a salmonella outbreak infected more than 180 people, and the CDC sent out recommendations to leave poultry outside and to stop snuggling them. A recently released study by the centers found that between 1990 to 2014, 46 percent of salmonella patients said their household kept poultry inside and 13 percent reported kissing birds.

There were 53 outbreaks of live poultry-related salmonella cases in those 24 years, resulting in 2,630 illnesses, 387 hospitalizations, and five deaths, according to the study.

Most of these cases came from contact with baby birds, and 45 percent of the patients were under 10 years old.

Urban farming has gained popularity in recent years, with more and more people keeping chickens in their backyards.

Here are some ways to avoid salmonella through contact with poultry, as recommended by the CDC: