Dr. Robynne Chutkan at Georgetown Hospital in Washington says people can reduce their risk by taking some simple steps.

ROBYNNE CHUTKAN: "One of the most important things is to make sure your meat is adequately cooked. I do not recommend that anybody be having a rare hamburger when they are cooking out in the summer. If you’re cooking eggs -- we have seen a lot of salmonella in the United States -- you want to make sure the yokes are firm."

And she says drinking or eating things that contain uncooked eggs is "definitely not a good idea."

You can watch a video report about the Meat and Poultry Hotline at voaspecialenglish.com.

Tom Hanks

Our question this week comes from China. Feng Tianqiang would like to know more about movie star Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks, at fifty-four, has one of the most successful and extensive careers in Hollywood. He has acted in television shows and movies, and done voice work for animated films. He is also a movie director, producer and writer. He currently is part of the leadership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For some time he was the Academy’s Vice President. He won the Academy Award for best actor in back to back years. Spencer Tracy is the only other actor to have done that.

Tom Hanks was born in California in nineteen fifty-six. His father and mother ended their marriage when he was five. Tom and his two older siblings lived with their father. The youngest child stayed with his mother.