Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 December 2009
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Salmonella enterica is a food-borne pathogen of global significance and no population is spared. It has been reported that there are over 1.3 billion cases of human salmonellosis annually worldwide, with three million deaths (Pang et al., 1995). More recent data suggest that each year in the USA there are 1.3 million cases of human S. enterica infections with 600 deaths. Other recent work from Denmark claims that mortality rates of people who have had S. enterica are three times those of controls, in the year after infection (Helms et al., 2003). Infection with S. enterica can lead to long-term sequelae such as irritable bowel syndrome and reactive arthritis (Rees et al., 2004). There are clear public health benefits to be had from better control of these bacteria in the food chain. In addition, S. enterica serovars have an enormous economic impact (Roberts et al., 2003; Voetsch et al., 2004), and are the most important foodborne pathogens in terms of deaths caused (Adak et al., 2002; Kennedy et al., 2004; Mead et al., 1999).
Gaffky may have been the first person to isolate S. enterica micro-organisms. These were S. enterica serovar Typhi from an infected patient, in 1884. Around this time it was also known that similar bacteria could cause non-typhoid disease in both animals and humans. In 1885, two American veterinarians, Salmon and Smith, isolated the bacterium causing ‘hog cholera’ from infected pigs.
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