Salmonella, dysentery-causing

Bacteria are both harmful and beneficial. They degrade the waste-products produced by society. They are used in wastewater treatment plants— thus, they are beneficial. On the other hand, they can also be pathogenic. The bacteria. Salmonella typhosa, causes typhoid fever Shigella flexneri causes bacillary dysentery. Clostridium tetani excretes toxins producing tetanus. Clostridium botulinum excretes the toxin causing botulism. Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the agent for diphtheria. 

Keeping water potable is a battlefield challenge. Maity illnesses can be cansed by virases or bacteria from contaminated water. These diseases can cripple an Army s readiness as mnch as combat injnries. Approximately half of the deaths from disease dnring the US Civil War were from intestinal disorders snch as typhoid fever and dysentery caused by contaminated water. Abont one-quarter of non-combat deaths in the Confederacy were the resnlt of typhoid fever cansed by the consumption of food or water contaminated by Salmonella bacteria. Waterborne health threats remain today in modem warfare, but fortunately technology has decreased the impact of this combat risk. 

Bacteria are likely precipitants in many other cases including Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Shigella species, Vibrio cholerae, and Clostridium difficile. The term dysentery has often been used to describe some of these bacterial infections when associated with serious occurrences of bloody diarrhea. Additionally, acute diarrheal conditions can be prompted by parasites-protozoa such as Entamoeba histolytica, Microsporidium, Giardia lamblia, and Cryptosporidium parvum. Most of these infectious agents can be causes of traveler s diarrhea, a common malady alflicting travelers worldwide. It usually occurs during or just after travel subsequent to the ingestion of fecally-contaminated food or water. It has an abrupt onset but usually subsides within 2 to 3 days. 

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