Foster Farms linked to salmonella outbreak, which has affected 287 people in 17 states (Michael Nelson/EPA).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 278 people in 17 states have been affected by this Salmonella outbreak. 213 of these cases have occurred in California.

This is the second salmonella outbreak Foster Farms has faced in less than a year. Since most of salmonella cases are unreported, CDC officials report that 10,000 people could have been affected by these two outbreaks.

No deaths have been reported but 42 percent of the individuals affected by the salmonella had to be hospitalized. Some strains of the bacteria are anti-biotic resistant which makes the illness difficult to treat.

The USDA sent out a Public Health Alert on Monday warning people that Salmonella Heidelberg has been linked to three Foster Farms branches in California. They linked the bacteria to the raw chicken products with the following USDA inspection marks:

    P6137
    P6137A
    P7632

USDA officials sent letters to Foster Farms chief executive Ron Foster on Monday threatening to shut down the branches. They said that Foster Farms has until Thursday to respond or the USDA would stop inspections, which would shut down the plants.

Foster Farms executives have not made any recalls of the chicken products during the two outbreaks. Instead, they recommend that consumers cook the chicken thoroughly to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to kill any salmonella bacteria.

Investigators speculate that the rise in salmonella cases this week can be attributed to the government shutdown. Since the shutdown on October 1, 9,000 of the CDCs 13,000 workers have been furloughed. They have called back 30 workers to help with the Foster Farms salmonella outbreak.

Reach Staff Reporter Niki Hashemi here or follow her on Twitter.