This report concerns the appearance of 10 instances of Salmonella infection, most of which occurred in postoperative patients on a General Surgical Service. It is embarrassing, but important, to admit that in this group of cases the organism was undoubtedly spread from infected wounds, dressings, and feces to patients newly operated on by the physicians responsible for their care. The complications related to the spread of this organism in the hospital, the likely sources and routes of spread, and the steps taken to combat the problems have been studied and will be discussed.
Bacteriology-Epidemiology
It is now appreciated that most of the 400 strains of Salmonella so far indentified are probably pathogenic for man. Almost all domestic animal groups have been found to be potential reservoirs of infection, but the most important clinically are poultry, pigs, cows, sheep, and man. Major epidemics of enteric fever are often water-borne, and occasionally