Salmonella

Salmonella is named after D. E. Salmon, an American bacteriologist, who first isolated the bacteria from a pig intestine in 1884. The Salmonella bacteria is a Gram-negative, motile, hydrogen sulfide producing, an acid-labile facultative intracellular microorganism that commonly causes gastroenteritis worldwide and causes cross-infection between humans and animals. Many animals are known carriers for the Salmonella bacterium. One animal carrier is chickens, which eaten while undercooked can cause Salmonella enteritidis leading to inflammatory diarrhea. Salmonella bacteria also cause significant focal infection in patients with immunocompromised conditions. Overall, there are over 2,500 serovars of Salmonella worldwide.