Salmonella constitutes a genus of zoonotic bacteria of
worldwide economic and health importance. The
current view of salmonella taxonomy assigns the
members of this genus to two species: S. enterica and
S. bongori. S. enterica itself is divided into six
subspecies, enterica, salamae, arizonae, diarizonae,
indica, and houtenae, also known as subspecies I, II,
IIIa, IIIb, IV, and VI, respectively [1]. Members of
Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica are mainly
associated with warm-blooded vertebrates and are
usually transmitted by ingestion of food or water
contaminated by infected faeces. The pathogenicity of
most of the distinct serotypes remains undefined, and
even within the most common serotypes, many
questions remain to be answered regarding the
interactions between the organism and the infected
host.Salmonellosis manifests itself in three major forms:
enteritis, septicaemia, and abortion, each of which
may be present singly or in combination, depending
on both the serotype and the host involved. Although
currently over 2300 serovars of Salmonella are
recognized, only about 50 serotypes are isolated in
any significant numbers as human or animal
pathogens [2, 3] and they all belong to subspecies
enterica. Of these, most cause acute gastroenteritis
characterized by a short incubation period and a
severe systemic disease in man or animals, characterized by septicaemia, fever and/or abortion, and
such serotypes are often associated with one or few
host species [4–6].It is the intention of this review to present a
summary of current knowledge of these host-adapted
serotypes of S. enterica. The taxonomic relationships
between the serotypes will be discussed together with
a comparison of the pathology and pathogenesis of
the disease that they cause in their natural host(s).
Since much of our knowledge on salmonellosis is
based on the results of work on Typhimurium, this
serotype will often be used as the baseline in
discussion. It is hoped that an appreciation of the
differences that exist in the way these serotypes
interact with the host will lead to a greater understanding of the complex host–parasite relationship
that characterizes salmonella infections.