Food infections are those in which the disease organism is carried through foods to the host (human or animal) where it actually invades the tissues and grows to numbers that cause disease.
Salmonellosis is caused when foods contaminated with Salmonella bacteria are eaten. At the present time, approximately 42,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported yearly. About 150- deaths annually are due to this disease. However, it is considered that only about 1% of acute digestive illnesses are reported in United States, so that actually there may be many more cases of this disease.
Typhoid fever, of which there are fewer cases than of salmonellosis, hence fewer deaths, is caused by an organism belonging to the Salmonella species, but this disease is usually not considered to be the ordinary salmonellosis for three reason:
- The ordinary Salmonella organisms will infect other animals as well as humans, while typhoid germ is known to infect only humans
- Typhoid fever is usually more severe than the ordinary salmonellosis
- In healthy adults, several hundred thousand to several million ordinary Salmonella bacteria (cells) must be ingested (eaten) to cause salmonellosis, while the ingestion of even one typhoid cell may cause typhoid fever.
It is known that antibiotics, especially cholramphenicol or some of the modified penicillin, are effective in treating salmonellosis, but since this disease is oftentimes not called to the attention of a physician, it may cause a more severe illness than if it were treated.
Food Infections: Salmonellosis
