The genus Salmonella comprises gram-negative and non-spore forming bacilli with known microscopic and cultural characteristics and with considerable pathogenic significance for human beings and animals. In a recent review of the present status of the Salmonella problem, Bornstein1 says that the human diseases caused by members of this group may be termed Salmonella fever, septicemia or gastroenteritis regardless of the type that causes the infection, although there are differences in relative incidence.
The clinical course of salmonella fever is milder and less typical than that of typhoid. With few exceptions fever and malaise are the dominating symptoms, usually lasting from one to three weeks. In some cases leukopenia is present. Not infrequently the appendix is removed. Blood cultures may be positive early in the disease and stool cultures may be positive at the onset or may remain negative for weeks. In the septicemic forms the distribution and pathologic effects