Salmonella

Rapid Test

CerTest Biotec 1
www.certest.es
Contents
 Background
 Symptoms
 Epidemiology
 Transmission
 Control and prevention
 Treatment
 Emerging foodborne disease
 Keys to safer food
 Salmonella test. Why?
 Product. Rapid test
 Technique
 Conclusions

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Background
 Salmonella species are gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria in the family
Enterobacteriacea.
 A total of 2501 different Salmonella serotypes have been identified up to 2004.
 Most vertebrates may be infected with Salmonella, the host susceptibility and
development of carrier states vary widely among species.
 In humans, Salmonella are the cause of two diseases called Salmonellosis:
Enteric fever (typhoid), resulting from bacterial invasion of the bloodstream
Acute gastroenteritis, resulting from a foodborne infection/intoxication
 Salmonella infections are zoonotic; they can be transmitted by humans to animals
and viceversa.
 Salmonella bacteria can survive several weeks in a dry environment and several
months in water
Frequently found in polluted water, contamination from the excrement of carrier
animals
Aquatic vertebrates (birds and reptiles) are important vectors of salmonella

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Symptoms
 Infection usually causes a self-limiting enterocolitis with symptoms
resolving within days.
 People infected with Salmonella develop diarrhoea, acute onset of fever,
abdominal cramps, nausea and sometimes vomiting 12 to 72 hours after
infection.
Dehydration is the principal clinical concern.
 Illness lasts 4 to 7 days and people recover without treatment.
 The elderly, infants and those immunodepressed are most likely to have a
severe illness.
Infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream
The associated dehydration can become severe and life-threatening
 Can cause three different kinds of illness: gastroenteritis, typhoid fever
and bacteraemia.

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Epidemiology
 Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, is caused by Salmonella serotype typhi.
Person-to-person transmission. Man as unique reservoir.
Fecal-oral route, through water and contaminated food mechanism.
The onset of symptoms usually occurs between 5 and 21 days after ingestion of
Salmonella typhi bacteria.
 Bacteraemia: presence of bacteria in the blood.
Occurs when Salmonella enter and circulate within an infected individual’s
bloodstream.
 Reiter’s syndrome: disorder that causes at least two of three seemingly unrelated
symptoms:
Reactive arthritis
Eye irritation
Urinary tract infection

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Transmission
 Transmission from one host to another is primarily through the air.
 Infection acquired from contaminated food.
 Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals,
including birds.
 Salmonella are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated
with animal faeces.
Contaminated foods are often of animal origin, such as beef, poultry, milk, or
egg, but any food including vegetables may become contaminated.
 Disease has a greater chance of spreading in overcrowded conditions.
 Vertical transmission (transmission of the bacteria to and egg) can occur.

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Control and Prevention
 Proper hygiene is the best way to prevent outbreaks of Salmonella.
 There is no vaccine to prevent Salmonellosis.
 Cross-contamination of food should be avoided.
 Salmonella bacteria can survive several weeks in a dry environment and several
months in water.
Destroy the bacteria when further cooking.
 Avoid uncooked food.
People should not eat raw or undercooked eggs, poultry or meat.
 Prevention requires control measures at all stages of the food chain.
 Prevention and detection is better than cure.
Be particularly careful with food prepared for infants, the elderly and the
immunocompromised.
Mother’s milk is the safest food for young infants.

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Treatment
 Usually resolve in five to seven days and many times require no treatment
unless the patient becomes severely dehydrated or the infection spreads
from the intestines.
 Treatment with antibiotics is not usually necessary.
 If the infection spreads from the intestines or otherwise persists, the
infection can be treated with amicillin, gentamicin, trimethoprim /
sulfamethoxazole / amoxicilin….
 The length of treatment varies depending on the extent of a patient’s illness
and can range from 14 days for enteric fever to six weeks for bacteraemia.
 Some salmonella bacteria have become antibiotic-resistant.

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Emerging foodborne disease
 Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue.
 Globalization of the food supply. Every person is at risk of foodborne illness.
 Unawareness of pathogens introduction into new geographic areas.
 Travellers, refugee and immigrants exposed to unfamiliar foodborne hazards
while abroad.
 Changes in microorganisms, leading to the evolution of new pathogens, new
virulent strains and development of antibiotic resistance.
 Foodborne diseases are a widespread and growing public health problem.

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Keys to safer food
 Keep clean.
 Wash your hands often and always before handling and consuming food.
 Uncooked meats should be kept separate from cooked and ready-to-eat
foods.
 Food should be cooked thoroughly.
 Hands, cutting boards, counters, knives and other utensils should be
washed thoroughly after touching uncooked foods.
 Food should be kept at safe temperatures.
 People who have Salmonellosis should not prepare food until disease is
resolved.

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Salmonella rapid test. Why?
 One of the most common and widely distributed foodborne diseases.
 To complete our current foodborne pathogens rapid tests.
 Constitutes a major health burden and represents a significant cost in many
countries.
 Millions of human cases are reported worldwide every year resulting in
thousands of deaths.
 Problems related to Salmonella have increased significantly, both in terms
of incidence and severity of cases of human Salmonellosis.
 Diarrhea is a major cause of malnutrition in infants and young children.

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CerTest Salmonella test
 Rapid test for the qualitative detection of Salmonella ANTIGEN in stool.
 Technique: Immunochromatographic assay.
 Format: Card, blister and Tube.

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CerTest test performance
stool
sample

stool collection tube

 Qualitative immunochromatographic assay to determine Salmonella in stool

samples.

S
add 4 drops

control region result region

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 Results

NEGATIVE POSITIVE INVALID

 NEGATIVE: only one GREEN band appearing. No Salmonella presence.

 POSITIVE: in addition to the GREEN control band, the RED one (Salmonella test line) is also
appearing.

 INVALID: total absence of the control coloured band (GREEN) regardless the appearance or not
of the result lines RED.
Reasons for control failure:
Insufficient specimen volume
Incorrect procedural techniques
Reagents deterioration 14
Conclusions
 Salmonellosis is one of the most frequently reported foodborne diseases worldwide
major problem in most countries.
Foodborne diseases and more especially diarrhoeal diseases are an important cause of
morbidity and mortality.
 No enrichment in faeces is needed.
 Results compared to culture (gold standard) to diagnosis the Salmonella disease
indicates that:
Its specificity value is excellent
 No-cross reactivity against H. pylori, E. coli, Campylobacter and Listeria.
 The high specificity degree for the detection of this bacteria is due to the use of an
excellent monoclonal mouse antibody.

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¡¡Thanks for your attention !!

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