in animals and humans, an acute intestinal infection caused by salmonellas.
In man. Salmonellosis is considered to be a definite disease in nosology that differs from typhoid fever and paratyphoid. Infected animals are the main source of the disease, although humans (sick individuals or bacteria carriers) may sometimes be the source of infection. The disease is transmitted by infected foods that are usually of animal origin, including meat and meat products, milk, galantine, and eggs, especially duck and goose eggs. Foods become infected as a result of the forced, improper slaughter of animals and the violation of regulations governing the storage and preparation of food products, including contact between prepared and raw foods and insufficient cooking before consumption. Salmonellosis develops when food products containing live salmonellas enter the body.
Salmonellosis symptoms vary from the asymptomatic carrier state to severe septic forms. The incubation period ranges from two to six hours to two or three days. Several clinical forms of salmonellosis are distinguished. The onset of the gastrointestinal form of the disease is usually acute, with profuse vomiting and diarrhea. Stools are watery and often green and malodorous. There is pain, borborygmus, abdominal distention, weakness, headache, vertigo, chills, a rise in body temperature to 38°-40°C, pain in muscles and joints, and spasms of the muscles of the extremities. The disease usually lasts three to seven days.
The onset of the typhoid form of salmonellosis is similar, although the disease itself is characterized by a fever lasting from ten to 14 days, an enlarged liver and spleen, and more pronounced symptoms of systemic intoxication, including headache and sluggishness. Occasionally a rash develops. The septic form of the disease is characterized by the development of sepsis after a short initial period. A short bacteria carrier stage occurs during the convalescent period in 15–17 percent of salmonellosis cases. Carrier states can be transient or chronic.
Salmonelloses are diagnosed on the basis of clinical and epidemiologic data and the results of the bacteriological examination of feces, urine, blood, duodenal contents, vomit, gastric lavage fluids, and food residues. Serodiagnosis is also used. Treatment includes gastric and intestinal lavage and ingestion of a large amount of hot sweet liquids. In more severe forms of the disease, saline solutions are introduced that help control dehydration. Antispasmodics and antibiotics are also prescribed. Diet is important; food that is easy to digest (milk is prohibited) should be eaten for the first days of the disease. Factors that interfere with the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract should be avoided during illness and for at least a month after recovery; these factors include overeating and the consumption of alcoholic beverages, foods rich in coarse cellulose, canned and smoked foods, and highly seasoned, spicy, and fatty dishes.
Preventive measures include veterinary health inspections of the slaughter of livestock and the processing of carcasses, the observance of health regulations governing the preparation, storage, and sale of food products, and the examination of persons applying for work in restaurants, food stores, and children’s institutions.