Table of ContentsPathologyResponse and TreatmentEpidemiologySocio-Political-Economic ConsiderationsWorks CitedIn the early 1900s, New York State was a hot spot for typhoid fever outbreaks. George Sober, a sanitary engineer, attributed these outbreaks to a woman, a cook named Mary Mallon. Mallon was the first described case of a healthy carrier of Salmonella typhii, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever, and had no symptoms but harbored the bacteria inside her. During his career, Mallon is believed to have infected one hundred and twenty-two people and caused the deaths of at least five people. Her name eventually became associated with anyone who, intentionally or unintentionally, infected others with a disease, nicknamed "Typhoid Marys." Typhoid is just one of many diseases caused by the genus Salmonella, which will be described in this article. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay Salmonella, a genus that is part of the non-coliform group Enterobacteriaceae, are bacillus-shaped bacteria that measure 2 to 5 μm long and 0.7 to 1.5 μm in diameter, arranged in pairs or singles. They have peritrichous flagella, flagella covering their entire body, which makes them a mobile species. Salmonella is Gram negative and stains red in a GRAM stain test. Salmonella species are facultative anaerobes, capable of generating ATP whether or not oxygen is present. Salmonella are chemotrophs, organisms that obtain their energy through the use of organic materials in oxidation and reduction reactions. It appears that the first significant outbreak of salmonella occurred in Germany, where ingesting meat from a sick cow caused 50 people to become infected, and one man to die. Salmonella typhimurium was found in the deceased man's blood and spleen tissue, matching the same bacteria isolated from cow meat. Foodborne outbreaks would remain the leading cause of illness in Europe throughout the 20th century, but in the United States, most outbreaks involved bacteria with a reservoir species. It was not until 1969 that these epidemics limited to reservoir species became rare in the world. the United States. A major change in sanitation is believed to be behind this decline. Wastewater disposal techniques were refined, drinking water began to be treated, and farm hygiene was improved. The typical clinical illness of the time, typhoid fever, was replaced by gastroenteritis, and most epidemics began to occur in hospitals. In the 1970s, the way Salmonella was transmitted changed again. Rather than being largely isolated to hospitals, large outbreaks have been traced to infected foods, primarily animal foods from otherwise healthy but Salmonella-carrying animals. In the 1990s, contaminated eggs from chickens with infected ovaries caused a rapid increase in Salmonella outbreaks. PathologySalmonella bacteria causes a multitude of illnesses, including gastroenteritis, enteric fever, septicemia and typhoid fever. Most bacteria enter the body through ingestion of contaminated food, where they then infiltrate the ileum, colon, and intestinal epithelium. After reaching the epithelium, the organisms multiply intracellularly and spread to the lymph nodes, where they can then reach the rest of the body through systemic circulation (Giannella, 1996). Theremultiplication in the intestines causes an inflammatory response and hypersecretion of fluids. Salmonella can survive in the lysosomes of macrophages. Some strains of Salmonella can produce an intoxicating enterotoxin. Salmonella causes acute inflammation of the intestine and can also create ulcers. Damage to the intestine can be caused by the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines synthesized by epithelial cells. A disease called salmonellosis, or gastroenteritis, occurs in a large number of salmonella serotypes, causing inflammation of the large and small intestines, as well as diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headaches, and pain. fever. Symptoms usually last a few days to a week. Salmonellosis is contracted by ingesting contaminated food, handling eggs and raw poultry, or contact with reservoir animals. Serotype typhi causes typhoid fever, a more serious illness characterized by high fevers, abdominal pain, aches, lethargy and skin lesions. skin rashes. Untreated typhoid fever infections result in mortality in up to 10% of cases. The Widal test is an inexpensive agglutination test used for the diagnosis of typhoid fever. However, people who have been exposed to other forms of Salmonella may be reported as false positives and those with immunodeficiencies may be reported as false negatives. It can also be diagnosed with an ELISA test and DNA confirmation. Some people may carry typhi but have no symptoms; these people continually shed the bacteria from their stools, thereby infecting others. Response and Treatment Salmonellosis infections are usually not treated with antibiotics unless the case is severe. It is usually treated with oral rehydration therapy, which involves drinking water with added sugars and salts to treat dehydration caused by diarrhea. Immunocompromised patients who require antibiotics typically receive fluoroquinolones, third-generation cephalosporins, and ampicillin; however, antibiotic resistance is a concern. For example, serotype typhi has experienced numerous drug resistances throughout its history. Isolated cases of resistance to chloramphenicol (which was the drug of choice for treating typhoid fever before the 1970s) began appearing in Mexico in 1972, followed by reports in India, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. To combat resistance, treatment was replaced by ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, but in 1975 a case of typhi resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was reported in France. Nowadays, typhi has been defined as multi-resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Preventative care for salmonella involves thorough hand washing after handling raw eggs or after contact with reservoir species. All surfaces on which raw eggs or poultry have been prepared should be thoroughly cleaned. Vaccines are available against strains of typhi, primarily for people traveling to areas where typhoid fever is common. Programs around the world dedicated to identifying infected chicken populations have increased the likelihood of experiencing outbreaks in animals and animal products intended for human consumption (Gast, 2013). In Denmark, animal feed is treated to kill strains of Salmonella, thereby reducing the spread of the disease.