salmonella

American  

[sal-muh-nel-uh] / ˌsæl məˈnɛl ə /

noun

Bacteriology.

plural

salmonellae

1. any of several rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic bacteria of the genus Salmonella, as S. typhosa, that may enter the digestive tract of humans and other mammals in contaminated food and cause abdominal pains and violent diarrhea.

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salmonella British  

/ ˌsælməˈnɛlə /

noun

1. any Gram-negative rod-shaped aerobic bacterium of the genus Salmonella, including S. typhosa, which causes typhoid fever, and many species (notably S. enteritidis ) that cause food poisoning ( salmonellosis ): family Enterobacteriaceae

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salmonella Scientific  

/ săl′mə-nĕl′ə /

plural

salmonellae

1. Any of various gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria of the genus Salmonella that cause food poisoning and typhoid fever in humans and other mammals.

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salmonella Cultural  

1. A category of bacteria that occurs in many pathogenic forms. One kind causes typhoid fever; there is evidence that other kinds cause various forms of food poisoning.

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Etymology

Origin of salmonella

< New Latin (1900), after Daniel E. Salmon (1850–1914), U.S. pathologist; see -ella

Explanation

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that causes food poisoning or even typhoid fever in people and their pets. If you eat something contaminated with salmonella, you’ll get cramps, diarrhea, and a fever for a few days. Yuk! Salmonella has nothing to do with salmon. It’s named after the American scientist Daniel E. Salmon (1850-1914), who isolated this type of Gram-negative enterobacteria in 1885. It's not good to eat raw eggs or meat because cooking kills bacteria such as salmonella. Salmonella also causes typhoid fever — people with typhoid fever can spread it around by accident, like Typhoid Mary did in the 1800’s, when she served food that made a lot of people sick.

Example Sentences

In February, an investigation by the UK Health Security Agency found that since October 2025, there had been 112 reported cases of shigella and 43 of salmonella linked to travel to Cape Verde.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

E. coli and salmonella are both well known causes of foodborne illness.

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026

Of course, safety issues abound in commercial dog food, too, where recalls for salmonella and listeria contamination are fairly common.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026

By contrast, it takes ingesting thousands of salmonella particles to get sick from that bacterium.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2025

They used HeLa to test the effects of steroids, chemotherapy drugs, hormones, vitamins, and environmental stress; they infected them with tuberculosis, salmonella, and the bacterium that causes vaginitis.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• botulism