Clinical Signs

Clinical symptoms in humans include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, headache and general malaise, usually within 72 hours of the ingestion of 100 to 100,000 colony-forming units of the bacteria.

Infrequently, it can spread to other body systems via the bloodstream.  The person is generally sick for four to seven days, and usually recovers spontaneously. In cases of severe illness, especially involving dehydration, fluid therapy and/or antibiotic therapy may be needed.

After recovery, it may take months to re-establish normal bowel function! In rare cases, it may lead to Reiter's syndrome, which can leave an individual with chronic arthritis.

You may have noted that we are only discussing signs in people, not animals. Nice observation! This is because the primary concern is emergence of human infections with Salmonella typhimurium mrDT 104 which is resistant to multiple antibiotics. 

In animals, the infection is generally asymptomatic. Usually, the animal are limited to diarrhea, a common occurrence which generally does not command extensive medical intervention.

Infection is generally not noted.In addition, incidences of severe diarrhea and anorexia in production animals will often be treated without specific diagnosis.

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