The future approach for Salmonella source attribution

Source attribution is the process of determining what proportion of a particular disease is acquired from a given source (e.g. chicken) and through a given pathway (e.g. food or direct animal contact).

Source attribution using microbial subtyping to compare isolates from humans with isolates from animals and food sources and a mathematical model that quantifies the human disease burden by comparing these distributions has recently received a considerable amount of attention.

In this project, we will provide the foundation for a new concept for Salmonella source attribution based on molecular typing and mathematical modelling. The hypothesis is that we by applying molecular typing methods can obtain an improved and more conclusive identification of sources of human salmonellosis both for sporadic and outbreak-related human cases.