Is it really that bad to eat cookie dough? - Emma Bryce

Salmonella is a group of foodborne bacteria that can infect animals and humans. It’s most often found in raw and undercooked meat, eggs, and unpasteurized milk, though it can also infect fruit and vegetables. In fact, Salmonella can occur and persist throughout the entire food chain. The symptoms of Salmonella infection are commonly referred to as gastroenteritis or food poisoning.

Most cases of Salmonella are mild and infected people will get over the infection in a week or less. But some varieties of Salmonella can be life-threatening. The World Health Organization says that within one Salmonella species called Salmonella enterica, which includes thousands of serovars, there are two that cause the greatest human health impacts: one of these is Salmonella typhi, which causes the disease more commonly known as typhoid, or typhoid fever. Typhoid is less common in the United States and a bigger threat in regions like Africa and South Asia where it infects over 9 million people each year.

Doctors are working to treat typhoid with antibiotics and preventative vaccines, and to expand access to clean, safe drinking water to reduce its spread. Researchers are continuously studying Salmonella to understand how it evades the human immune system. In the meantime there’s a lot we can all do to limit the spread. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control keeps a public record of new Salmonella outbreaks. They also provide simple solutions to reduce your risk of infection. The World Health Organization has special tips for travelers who want to avoid Salmonella, and here are some useful tips on buying, handling, and cooking eggs, one of the biggest Salmonella sources.

Despite the damage that Salmonella does, not all bacteria are so troublesome: learn more from TED Ed about the various roles that bacteria play in our lives, such as making food delicious.