Running head: MILESTONE ONE
Milestone One: Health Issue
Jonni Fogleman
Southern New Hampshire University
Running head: MILESTONE ONE
"Salmonellosis is a gastrointestinal illness caused by bacteria from the genus Salmonella"
(Stehr 2016). This bacterial disease most commonly affects people who eat contaminated foods
Some of the risk factors of Salmonellosis include owning an exotic pet that may carry disease,
recent travel outside a familiar area, having an immune disease that compromises your immune
system like malaria or sickle cell disease, having inflammatory bowel disease, and eating
contaminated or raw foods such as eggs, chicken, beef, or dairy products. All factors listed above
can increase your chances of being infected with Salmonella. Multiple risk factors of Salmonella
were examined in this case study. "Using a standardized questionnaire, investigators collected
information from cases about foods and beverages consumed, recent travel, and food handling
practices in the 3 days before they became ill" (Stehr 2016). Consumption of raw and
undercooked eggs was the main factor of illness in this case. Research showed that the eggs
consumed were not handled properly and were found in unsanitary conditions by 6 out of the 10
farms investigated in this case. The other 4 farms were found clean, and their eggs were not
contaminated.
Transmission of the Salmonella infection is considered direct and/or fecal-oral. It can also
be transmitted through food contamination. This means that it can be spread directly form one
person to another if the infection is on the body part that comes in contact with another person.
For example, if a server in a restaurant in infected with Salmonella and does not was her hands
before serving food to a customer, the customer has a very high chance of being infected with the
virus. The fecal-oral route of transmission of the virus comes directly from the animal to the
person. An example of this is if a chicken egg is taken directly from a nesting box and given to
someone to eat without washing it first, the chances of being infected with salmonella are high
because the egg was directly from the chicken to the person and not sanitized. The mode of
Running head: MILESTONE ONE
transmission in this case study is fecal-oral, direct, and through food contamination. Eggs
examined in this case study were found to be not sanitized by the farms they came from. The
farms in which they came from were also unsanitary, potentially causing more disease to the
eggs.
"An incidence rate is the number of new cases of a specified health-related state or
event reported during a given time interval divided by the estimated population at risk of
becoming a case" (Merrill 2019). This case study's incidence rate is calculated as: incidence
rate= (86 cases/1,265,000population) *100,000= 6.79, rounded to 6.8. "Prevalence is the
frequency of existing cases of a health-related state or event in a given population at a certain
time or period" (Merrill 2019). In this case study, prevalence can be calculated as: prevalence=
(1097cases in study/1,265,000 population