Two years into a Canada wide salmonella outbreak, the BC Centre for Disease Control wants people to be careful when cooking your Thanksgiving dinner.

Marsha Taylor is an Epidemiologist with the BC CDC and says there have been 26 cases of salmonella poisoning in the province in the last two years.

And so she’s reminding people to be especially careful about cross-contamination.

“I think there’s a lot of people that think we need to wash them and there’s the potential for splash or if we are thawing products, we’re letting them touch other parts of our kitchen. It’s really important to remember that this is a raw product, there’s the potential for salmonella, and the best thing you can do is keep this product separate,” she said.

“Thaw it properly, and cook it completely.”

Taylor says a turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 74 C, which should also be checked with a thermometer, into the breast or the inner thigh, near the breast of the bird.

She’s also urging people to clean up any surfaces that come in contact with the raw meat right away.

“Wipe down all the splash points so it’s not creeping into the spot on your counter that you’ve missed and giving everything a good once down with some hot soapy water – your hand and all of the surfaces as well,” Taylor noted. “Make sure all the dishes get fully cleaned, not just a quick rinse off between raw and cooked product.”

Symptoms of an illness include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps that develop 12 to 72 hours after infection and usually last four to seven days. The CDC says children four years old and younger have the highest salmonella infection rates in B.C.