Salmonella Typhimurium Lab Report

There are many organisms in the world. In microbiology lab, I was given an unknown organism and I was told I must figure out what organism it truly is. I had the honor to conduct a few experiments to come to an conclusion on what the type and name of the organism was. Each member of my class was given a plate of agar and a random number that correspond to the plate of agar. I was given the number 191. The agar contain a bacteria growth. In the end of my experiments I realize my unknown organism was Salmonella Typhimurium.
Salmonella Typhimurium was originally isolated in 1880 by Karl J. Erberth. S. typhimurium is a multi-organ pathogen that inhabits the lymphatic tissues of the small intestine, liver, spleen, and bloodstream of infected humans. It is not known to infect animals and is most common in developing countries with poor sanitary systems and lack of antibiotics, putting travelers to Asia, Latin America, and Africa in a high-risk group. Of the 266-people infected in the United States in 2002, approximately 70% had traveled internationally within 6 weeks of the onset of disease. S. typhimurium is the …show more content…
This disease is characterized by the sudden onset of a sustained and systemic fever, severe headache, nausea, and loss of appetite. Other symptoms include constipation or diarrhea, enlargement of the spleen, possible development of meningitis, and/or general malaise. When the bacterial cells enter, epithelial cells lining the intestine they cause host cell ruffling which temporarily damages the microvilli on the surface of the cell. This causes a rush of white blood cells into the mucosa, which throws off the ratios between absorption and secretion, and leads to diarrhea. Untreated typhoid fever cases result in mortality rates ranging from 12-30% while treated cases allow for 99%