2003 Reportable Communicable Disease Summary

Salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is bacterial illness characterized by acute abdominal pain, diarrhea, and often fever that begins 12 hours to 5 days after infection. In cases of enterocolitis, fecal excretion usually persists for several days or weeks beyond the acute phase of illness; antibiotics generally have no effect on the illness and, in fact, may increase the duration of excretion of organisms. The majority of human infections are thought to result from the ingestion of fecally contaminated food or water. Undercooked or raw products of animal origin such as eggs, milk, meat, and poultry have been implicated as common sources of human salmonellosis. A wide range of domestic and wild animals are carriers of Salmonella, including poultry, swine, cattle, rodents, iguanas, tortoises, turtles, terrapins, chicks, dogs and cats. Though uncommon, person-to-person spread can occur in humans — via patients, convalescent carriers and, especially, mild and unrecognized cases. The incidence of infection is highest in infants and young children.


Of approximately 2,500 known serotypes, only about 200 are detected in the US in any given year. In Oregon, S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis are the two most commonly reported.