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Salmonella enterica

Salmonella enterica

5.0
A type of bacteria that lives in animals and people and can cause food poisoning
  • noun
  • /ˌsælməˈnɛlə ˈɛntərɪkə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Salmonella enterica
  • Researchers are studying Salmonella enterica to understand how it causes illnesses in humans.
  • Salmonella enterica serovar
  • Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

Examples

  • Salmonella enterica was recovered from nine (20 percent) of the samples during the first period and nine (9 percent) during the second period.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Salmonella enterica (n 21) of different serovars, detected in 18%, was the next commonest pathogen.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Eight laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium of the same genetic subtype were identified through routine surveillance.

    Academic text (2012)
  • If not cooked properly, Salmonella enterica can contaminate chicken and cause food poisoning.

  • An outbreak of Salmonella enterica resulted in several hospitalizations due to contaminated food.

Synonyms

Salmonella
vsSalmonella enterica
  • Specialized
22 5.5

A type of germ that can cause food poisoning and other serious illnesses

refers to one species in the genus that causes food poisoning and aids research

Surface Forms

Morphology

salmonella + enterica

This is a taxonomic binomial composed of the genus name 'Salmonella' plus a specific epithet; a learner who knows the constituents can directly infer it denotes a particular species of Salmonella. The term is compositional and non‑idiomatic (genus + species naming is cross‑linguistically regular), so its basic meaning as a type of Salmonella is transparent to learners.

Etymology

The name Salmonella enterica comes from a person and a word for the gut: Salmonella is named after Dr Salmon and enterica comes from a word meaning 'intestine'. So the name gives the image of 'Salmon's bacteria in the intestine', which fits because these bacteria live in animals' guts and often cause 'food poisoning'.