The Microbial Pathogen Salmonella

Salmonella is a bacterial disease that occurs in the intestines, the signs and symptoms can be; fever, or other illnesses such as diarrhea and abdominal cramps. People typically get salmonella from contaminated foods, which seems to occur frequently from poultry and eggs (Nordqvist, 2016). This is just a basic look at salmonella though, next we need to look at the epidemiologic triad (host, agent, and environment) and see how each plays a role in a salmonella outbreak.

Exposure to salmonella is not taken lightly, as it can prove deadly and lead to contact with several related diseases such as salmonellosis. Salmonellosis can manifest with symptoms including diarrhea, severe cramping, and

Gastrointestinal diseases are pervasive problem that is caused by ingestion of contaminated foods or water in which an extensive etiological agents known as enteric pathogen are present, [1]. Salmonella is one of the most opportunistic gram negative, facultative anaerobic food borne pathogens that represent a major health problem and a substantial cause of food poisoning[2]. Salmonellosis caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) stance as the second most prevalent cause of acute gastroenteritis that affecting one million illnesses in the United States, with 19,000 hospitalizations and 380 deaths[3]. Infection begins with the ingestion of contaminated food or water then characterized by attachment of the bacteria by fimbriae or pili to cells lining the

Typhoid fever. One of the types of salmonella bacteria is known as salmonella typhi. Even if salmonella is not originally carried by chickens, infected food handlers might contaminate the food during preparation and an undercooked chicken can absorb the bacteria and spread the disease. Around 21.5 million cases of typhoid fever is recorded worldwide. Symptoms of typhoid fever include a very high fever, weakness, headache, stomach pain, and rash.

There have been numerous times where I have been affected by Salmonella, so it was easy to swing towards Salmonella as the CBRN choice. Salmonella is found in everyday food products such as raw chicken, raw beef, raw fish, raw eggs and unpasteurized milk (foodsafety.gov). Salmonella can also be found on reptiles, amphibians, birds and even pet treats (foodsafety.gov). People will start to feel symptoms within four to seven days which include: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, headaches, dehydration and possibility blood in the stool (mayoclinic.gov).

It is important in the way food is handled and the safety of the process that food goes through. One of the most common causes of food poisoning is bacteria and viruses. Symptoms of food poisoning can range from very sever to not very, depending on what bacteria or virus is the cause. Salmonella is the name for a common group of bacteria. The bacteria can effect different people in different ways. It can cause a serious sickness in older adults, infants, and persons with chronic diseases. Cooking and pasteurization can kill Salmonella. Two caused by this bacterium are the lettuce recall from major supermarkets and the mayonnaise contamination on Melbourne Cup Day, by Piccalilli Catering.

Salmonella is a bacteria that develops in the intestine track which is commonly caused from eating contaminated meat and poultry. Some recent outbreaks of salmonella both occurred in 2011. In the united states there was a deadly salmonella outbreak in ground turkey. And in the UK there was an outbreak in ground beef which caused several infections. The salmonella strain in both of these instances is resistant to four types of bacteria which made it difficult to cure. MRSA, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is a highly contagious staph infection that is the result of antibiotic resistant bacteria. This infection causes skin abscesses or internal abscesses. In a study in the Midwest United States livestock workers were found to have carried MRSA, which is alarming because this was not a infection that was believed to occur in livestock. (insert reference). Infectous outbreaks like these show the dangers that antibiotic overuse

of which 25 occured in 2015 (Palumbo, 2015). Public health investigators used the PulseNet system which is a national laboratory that helps connect foodborne illness cases to detect outbreaks. In the “About PulseNet” article, the system compares DNA fingerprints of bacteria from infected people to find disease that might represent unrecognized outbreaks (Center for Disease and Control Prevention, 2016). Salmonella is responsible for about a million cases of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. This also include about 19,000 hospitalizations and 380 deaths (Almasy, 2016). The source of the outbreak came from Paramount Farms which “laboratory testing isolated the outbreak strains of Salmonella Montevideo and Salmonella Senftenberg”, (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2016). Paramount Farms is the the location where the Wonderful brand pistachios are grown. The outbreak could have been prevented by the use of superheated steam (SHS) at Paramount Farms. Superheated steam is vapor heated to extremely high temperatures. This can be generated by the heating of saturated steam obtained from boiling water. SHS treatment has been shown to be a “promising alternative technology for the tree nuts industry by improving inactivation of foodborne pathogens,[such as E.coli, Salmonella and L.monocytogenes], on almonds and pistachios while simultaneously reducing processing time” (Ga-Hee and Dong-Hyun, 2016).

One of the most common causes of food poisoning to date in the United States today is from a group of bacteria, Salmonella (Foodsafety.gov, n.d.). As reported by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2014), Salmonella causes an estimated 1.2 million illnesses annually leading to 19,000 hospitalizations and a mortality of 380 (CDC, 2014). This cost was reported to be more than $3.7 billion in 2013 (Foodsafety.gov, n.d.)! The two most common kinds of Salmonella in the United States are Salmonella serotype Typhimurium and Salmonella serotype Enteritidis with Salmonellosis more common in the summer months (CDC, 2012).

Salmonellosis is a standout amongst the most well-known and generally appropriated foodborne maladies and is brought about by the microorganisms salmonella. It is assessed that a huge number of human cases happen overall consistently and the ailment brings about more than hundred thousand passings. For salmonella species, more than 2 500 unique strains (called "serotypes" or "serovars") have been distinguished to date. salmonella is an omnipresent and solid microorganisms that can survive a few weeks in a dry situation and a while in water.

Salmonella is known to survive well in foods and on surfaces and survives well under a minimum of 7⁰C. Salmonella is capable of survival under refrigeration for long periods.

Often, a salmonella infection affects the digestive tract, though, it’s possible for the bacteria to enter the bloodstream. If your doctor believes this has happened, they’ll need to do a blood test to confirm this

Salmonella Typhimurium is a food-poisoning contaminating both humans and animals. Salmonella can contaminate meat, eggs, milk, and other dairy products. Cooking meat can kill the bacteria so you do not get infected. Humans can get infected by Salmonella by eating undercooked meat or animal products. There are over 2,000 types of salmonella. Salmonella has many symptoms such as diarrhea, blood stool, or headache. Pain areas include pain in the abdomen and your muscles. Ways to get rid of this disease is to get treatment. Go to a local pharmacy and ask for antibiotics. Salmonella can also pass from person to person in various ways. These ways include having a family member with this bacteria. It is important to wash every object in your home

Symptoms of vomiting, abdominal pain, headaches, weakness, and diarrhea can occur within one hour and last less than 24 hours. Diagnosis is through stool culture and treatment is supportive therapy. The most well-known Salmonella infection is Salmonella typhi, which is transmitted through contaminated food and water. Typhoid fever is divided into 4 stages. In the first stage, symptoms of malaise, headache and cough develop. In the second stage, high fever, bradycardia, rose spots, crackles in the lung, hepatosplenomegaly, distended abdomen and loose stools are observed. In the third stage, intestinal hemorrhage, encephalitis, cyclic fevers are prevalent. In the last stage, the fever starts to subside. Diagnosis is made through stool culture and the patient is treated through oral rehydration therapy. Antibiotics like ceftriaxone or ciprofloxacin can also be given. Camplylobacter is another bacterial cause of gastroenteritis. It is commonly associated with the consumption of contaminated poultry dish. Patients get diarrhea (loose to bloody), fever and malaise. It is diagnosed through stool culture. Disease is self-limiting, but antibiotics like ciprofloxacin can be given. Yersinia can be acquired through uncooked meat, contaminated water and milk leading to watery and bloody diarrhea and fever. It is typically self-limiting and does not require antibiotics. Of note, patients with Yersinia enterocolitica can experience

Foodborne microbes are already present in healthy animals that are raised for human consumption, usually in their intestines (HHS, 2016b). Contamination can occur during slaughter when edible meat comes into contact with small amounts of intestinal contents (HHS, 2016b). A hen’s ovary may become infected with some types of salmonella so that the internal matter in an egg that appears to be normal are contaminated with salmonella before the shell is even formed (HHS, 2016b). Filter feeding shellfish, especially oysters, can become concentrated with vibrio bacteria that naturally occurs in sea water, or other microbes that become present in the water from dumped sewage such as norovirus (HHS, 2016b). Other foodborne microbes can be introduced later in the food processing route by infected people or when raw agricultural products become cross contaminated (HHS, 2016b). Fresh produce is easily contaminated if the water used to wash it was contaminated with sewage (HHS, 2016b). Unwashed hands of food handlers can spread shigella bacteria, norovirus, and hepatitis A because they have been infected prior to handling food (HHS, 2016b). Cross contamination in the kitchen happens when