Lima newspaper among four sold

Freedom Communications Inc. has completed the sale of an Ohio newspaper and three others in the Midwest to an affiliate of Versa Capital Management LLC.

Terms were not disclosed.

The four newspapers are The Lima News, The Telegraph in Alton, Ill., the Journal-Courier in Jacksonville, Ill., and The Sedalia Democrat in Sedalia, Mo.

Irvine, Calif.-based Freedom owns The Orange County Register and dozens of other newspapers, along with television stations and websites.

The privately held company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 after creditors, led by JPMorgan Chase, cut its debt by nearly 60 percent to $325 million in return for control of the company.

Health investigators CINCINNATI — have linked a multi-state salmonella outbreak to live baby chicks or ducklings that Mount Healthy Hatcheries here sold, officials said — but an outside supplier may be the original source of contamination that sickened 93 people in 23 states, officials said.

‘The suspicion is that the (contaminated) birds are coming into the facility from another source,’ said Erica Pitchford, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Officials from that department have visited Mount Healthy Hatcheries several times since last year, when an Ohio salmonella outbreak was traced to the business, Pitchford said. At the last visit, just a week ago, the state veterinarian, Tony Forshey, found everything in order, she said.

“The company has implemented everything that we have asked them to do,” Pitchford said, including procedures for maintaining sanitation and separating the birds.

Next, officials are recommending that the hatchery require its suppliers to provide proof of salmonella testing, Pitchford said.

While officials are working with businesses such as the hatchery, the sickness-causing salmonella bacteria are commonly found in nature, so consumers must take some responsibility for safeguarding their own health, Pitchford said.

‘We need to do a lot more to educate people,’ she said, noting that many of the baby chicks that made people sick were apparently bought as traditional Easter pets.

‘While they might be cute, fluffy and adorable, they’re still livestock — and they still bring the same health risks as a flock of chickens in your back yard.”

That’s why people should not kiss Easter chicks and ducklings, shouldn’t allow them near food that people will be eating and shouldn’t allow them to stay in their children’s bedrooms, for example, Pitchford said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control provides detailed precautions on its website, www.cdc.gov.

A link to that CDC page also appears on the home page of Mount Healthy Hatcheries’ web site, along with a statement about the salmonella outbreak.

Mount Healthy Hatcheries said the business shares the public’s concern about the reported illnesses and is working with investigators from Pitchford’s agency and from the CDC.

“We are and will continue to work with suppliers of hatching eggs and chicks purchased by Mount Healthy Hatcheries to ensure we can provide safe, healthy chicks for our customers,” the company said in a release. “We also will continue to educate consumers on proper care and handling of those animals.”

Poultry, such as baby chicks and chickens, can harbor salmonella bacteria in their digestive tracts without it making them sick.

But if people are exposed to the bacteria, they may suffer diarrhea, vomiting, fever and abdominal cramps — sometimes bad enough to require hospitalization. If untreated, severe cases of salmonella can be fatal.

This week, the CDC issued an announcement about the outbreak, confirming that 93 people were infected with three different strains of salmonella in 23 states since March.

Ohio reported 23 people ill, the largest number of any state, followed by 13 in New York. Kentucky reported four; Indiana, two.

Among 41 people investigators interviewed, 37 reported contact with live chicks or ducklings before becoming ill; 32 people reported purchasing live poultry for back-yard flocks to produce eggs or meat, or to keep as pets, the CDC said.

Illnesses affected people ranging from infancy to 100 years old; 37 percent of those who became ill were age 10 years or younger.

At least 18 have been hospitalized, and one death “possibly related to this outbreak” is under investigation, the CDC said.