Salmonella

Background

There are more than 2,500 strains of Salmonella bacteria. The strains that most commonly cause illness in humans are:

  • Salmonella Enteritidis
  • Salmonella Typhimurium

The bacteria can live in the guts of domestic and wild animals including:

  • chicken
  • cattle
  • pigs
  • reptiles

Transmission occurs through the consumption of contaminated food, most commonly from:

  • red meat
  • poultry
  • raw eggs
  • dairy products
  • faecal contamination from an infected person or animal

Information on the symptoms of salmonella is available on the NHS Inform website.

Guidance

Guidance is available from Public Health England (PHE) to support public health practitioners in identifying the sources of typhoid or paratyphoid (enteric fever) infection.

The guidance as been approved for use in Scotland by the Scottish Health Protection Network Guidance Group (SHPN-GG) and should be used in conjunction with the SHPN addendum.

For all infection prevention and control guidance visit the A-Z ​pathogens section of the National Infection and Prevention Control Manual.

Data and surveillance

Surveillance reports

Data tables

View annual totals for salmonella in the ten-year gastrointestinal and zoonoses data tables.