沙门氏菌，科学界125年走不出的迷雾

    食品伙伴网报道，据美国食品安全网8月4日消息，在美国加州南部城市阿纳海姆举行的国际食品保护协会（IAFP）年会8月3日的议题是沙门氏菌。1885年丹尼尔沙门的学生西奥博尔德史密斯发现并分离到沙门氏菌，并以其老师的名字为其命名。在当天的会议上，世界范围内的科学家都同意：沙门氏菌留给他们太多的迷惑了，在经过一个多世纪的研究之后，仍旧是问题比答案要多得多。
 

    来自美国农业部的研究者指出，在1923年-2010年期间，学术界撰写了超过6700篇关于沙门氏菌的科研论文，然而，这其中有很多人所提问的问题是在20世纪初期人们就提出的问题。我们对沙门氏菌知之甚少，我们需要了解它。

    沙门氏菌分布广泛，上至海拔40英里高度的大气层、下至7英里深的海洋，以及24英尺深的地下，都可以发现沙门氏菌的踪迹。其中一些菌株对动物有害，一些对人体有害，一些对两者都有害。一些菌株传播广泛，一些菌株仅限于某些地区，例如DT104只在英国和西北太平洋地区*出现。

    来自澳大利亚新南威尔士州立大学的一名学者就“为什么有的沙门氏菌会迁移，而有的沙门氏菌株则不会”而提出了理论。

    之前在佐治亚州大学，现就职于可口可乐的一名学者表示，在各种血清型不同的沙门氏菌中存在竞争，“生物是不同的，它们为了生存而竞争。”

    不同的次数和测试方法，会得到不同的结果。在几小时的测试中，一种菌株占优势，而在第二天，另一菌株占优势。
    
    食品伙伴网编者注：文中“*”所标注的西北太平洋地区是字面翻译，因为从文中可见该菌属在海洋中也存在，所以请教了地理专业的同学，翻译为“西北太平洋地区”，若读者发现有误，望批评指正。

    本报道由食品伙伴网编译整理，仅供食品行业相关人士参考，详细内容以国外原文报道为准。

    原文地址：http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/salmonella-befuddles-science-for-125-years/

    原文报道：

Salmonella 'Befuddles' Science for 125 Years

by Dan Flynn | Aug 04, 2010
ANAHEIM -- Daniel Salmon did not 125 years ago discover the pathogen Salmonella.  His student Theobald Smith did.  The bacteria has so "befuddled" science since then that Salmon might well have not had his name associated with the whole affair.

A worldwide panel of scientists Tuesday at the annual meeting of the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) agreed that Salmonella has left them befuddled, with more questions than answers after more than a century of research.

Paula Fedorka-Cray, a researcher for the USDA Agricultural Research Station associated with the University of Georgia at Athens, pointed to over 6,700 research papers on Salmonella that were written between 1923 and 2010, and how many of them are asking the same questions now as they did early in the 20th century.

"We do not know everything that we need to know about Salmonella," she said.

Salmonella, according to Fedorka-Cray, can be found 40 miles up in the atmosphere, seven miles under the ocean, and up to 24 feet under the ground.   Some strains are harmful to animals, some to humans, and some to both.  Some strains travel widely, and some are limited to certain areas like the DT104 strain which is typically found only in the United Kingdom and the Pacific Northwest.

Julian Cox of the University of New South Wales in Australia presented theories on why some strains of Salmonella travel and some do not.

Jason Richardson, a former University of Georgia researcher now with Coca Cola, said there is a "slugfest" going on between the various serotypes of Salmonella.  "Organisms are different and they are competing to stay alive," he said.

Differing times and testing methods can produce different results, Richardson said.  One strain might be dominant in a few hours of testing and another after a day. 

Also speaking at "The Salmonella Smorgasbord: The Problem of Too Many Choices" were Shawn Bearson and Mark Berrang, both with the Agricultural Research Station in Athens, and Bob Reinhard from the Sara Lee Corp.

The IAFP annual meeting wraps up today at the Anaheim Convention Center.