Salmonella surveillance overview

Salmonella is estimated to cause more than 1.2 million illnesses each year in the United States, with more than 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths. Salmonella infections most often cause gastroenteritis which can range from mild to severe; invasive infections can be severe and potentially life threatening.National Salmonella surveillance data are collected through passive surveillance of laboratory-confirmed human Salmonella isolates. Clinical diagnostic laboratories submit Salmonella isolates to state and territorial public health laboratories, where they are confirmed and serotyped according to the Kauffmann-White scheme. Unusual or untypable serotypes are forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s (CDC) National Salmonella Reference Laboratory at the Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch (EDLB) for further characterization or confirmation; results are reported back to state and territorial public health laboratories. State and territorial public health laboratories send reports electronically to CDC through a variety of mechanisms. Initially, all surveillance data were transmitted through the Public Health Laboratory Information System (PHLIS), but other methods of data transmission have been implemented over time; currently data are collected into the Laboratory-based Enteric Disease Surveillance (LEDS) system, which has replaced PHLIS. The Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED) in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases maintains the national Salmonella surveillance data in LEDS. The annual summaries of these data are the only regularly published national source of serotype information for Salmonella.2011Surveillance and Investigation709