ARS | Publication request: HUMAN SALMONELLOSIS, GENERAL MEDICAL ASPECTS

Submitted to: Foodborne Disease Handbook
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: January 1, 2000
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Typhoid fever, non-typhoid enteric fever, and Salmonella enterocolitis are extraordinarily important human diseases. Each is acquired by ingestion of salmonellae and stands as a foodborne illness. Although these various forms of salmonellosis are strikingly similar to each other, there are important distinctions with regard to transmission, source of infective material, nature of the disease, preventive measures, vaccination potential, treatment, and sequellae. It is all too easy to overlook these differences and think of salmonellosis as a single disease caused by identical bacteria, Salmonella choeraesuis (Salmonella enterica). In actuality the nature of salmonellosis is determined by numerous host Factors, the infecting serovar, and an array of virulence factors which may or may not be present in any given serovar. Treatment varies according to the specifics of the disorder and the antimicrobial resistance patterns of the offending Salmonella strain. Similarly, the consequences and sequellae of an episode depend on the nature of the offending Salmonella strain, and host factors. Salmonellosis remains an important and common human illness, even in developed countries with well Developed food and water hygiene measures.