Human-specific Salmonella that causes Typhoid fever. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi str. CT18

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi. This serovar is a human-specific organism that causes the life-threatening illness Typhoid fever which is acquired by coming into contact with contaminated food or water. Annually, 17 million people are infected, with 600,000 fatalities, mostly in developing countries. It contains multiple fimbrial operons that may be used to create extracellular appendages for attachment and entry into host intestinal epithelial cells. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi strain CT18. This strain is a multidrug resistant strain of Salmonella typhi. It contains a large number of pseudogenes as compared to related organisms. CT18 also has two plasmids, pHCM1 and pHCM2, which mediate drug resistance and may also encode virulence functions.