Gastroenteritis: Gastroenteritis or “food poisoning” is usually characterized by sudden nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, headache chills and fever up to 39 ºC (6-9). The symptoms can be mild to severe and may last between 5-7 days (7, 8). The Typhimurium serotype is the most common cause of gastroenteritis and there are an estimated 1.3 billion cases and 3 million deaths annually (1.4 million cases and 600 deaths in the US alone) due to non-typhoidal Salmonella (2, 9, 10). In well resourced countries with low levels of invasive complications, the mortality rate due to non-typhoidal Salmonella is lower then 1% (10); however, in developing countries, the mortality rate can be as high as 24%

The usual habitat for subspecies II, IIIa, IIIb, IV and VI is cold-blooded animals and the environment (2). All species of Salmonella can infect humans.