Eating the infected meat, that has not been cooked sufficiently to kill the
E. coli can cause illness. Contaminated meat looks and smells normal.
It is also possible to become infected by eating sprouts, lettuce salami,
unpasteurized fruit juice, and swimming in or drinking sewage
contaminated water.
If personal hygiene is not adequate in an infected
person, the bacteria contained in diarrhoeal stools
can be passed to other people.
Abdominal cramps
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Chills
Headache
Fatigue
Fever.
Salmonella is diagnosed by identifying the bacteria in the
stools of an infected person.
Depending on the age and health of the host it can take only 15-20 cells
to start an infection.
The onset time for the disease is 6-48 hours and it can last 5-7 days.
Salmonella invasion triggers actin polymerisation and depolymerisation
in the epithelial cell (this is sometimes called membrane ruffling) by the
bacteria releasing a toxin.
This causes the epithelial cell to form pseudopods that engulf the
Salmonella and place it in an endocytic vacuole.
The Salmonella replicate within the endocytic vacuole, killing the host
cell and causing a inflammatory response.
The bacteria are then released from the cell to infect other cells.
Due to the damage of the cells in the intestine walls caused by both
bacteria, absorption can be affected causing diarrhoea.
The body also increases fluids to get rid of the infection also resulting in
diarrhoea.
Diarrhoea can be fatal in malnourished children and the elderly due to
the amount of fluid and electrolytes lost from the body.
if fluid loss becomes to severe an oral rehydration drink can be given
to replace salts and sugars that have been lost.