Salmonella typhimurium (red) invades cultured human cells in this colour-enhanced scanning electron micrograph. Credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH
Scientists have discovered hypervirulent salmonella bacteria.
Researchers from the University of California in Santa Barbara have discovered salmonella bacteria that are up to 100 times more capable of causing disease. According to the study published in PLoS Pathogens, these hypervirulent bugs could override the immunity in vaccinated animals and pose a threat to the food industry.
The bacteria look like their less virulent cousins, but have been much harder discover as they behave like a Trojan Horse — they only expose themselves when causing disease. Now the researchers are able to separate them from their ‘cousins’ and examine their weaponry in the laboratory.
