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Salmonella Serovar Wiki

A curated web portal providing comprehensive, serovar-specific information on more than 110 Salmonella serovars — developed and maintained by the Cornell Food Safety Laboratory.

  • Browse Serovars

    Explore detailed profiles for 111 serovars organized by serogroup, covering genetics, outbreaks, reservoirs, and more.

    Serovar Database

  • Search

    Use the search bar above to jump directly to any serovar by name — instant results as you type.

  • Data Sources

    Information drawn from CDC, FDA, ECDC, NCBI Pathogen Detection, RASFF, WHO, and peer-reviewed literature.

    View sources

  • Contribute

    Want to suggest corrections, add outbreak data, or expand serovar profiles? Get in touch with us.

    How to contribute

About

Salmonella is a major foodborne pathogen causing substantial illness and economic burden globally. Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) serovars are a leading cause of death and hospitalization related to foodborne diseases in the United States, accounting for an estimated 1.3 million illnesses, 12,500 hospitalizations, and 238 deaths every year [1]. The Salmonella Serovar Wiki fills a critical gap by providing a centralized, curated resource with comprehensive, serovar-specific information. It consolidates data from over a dozen authoritative sources, including peer-reviewed literature, surveillance reports, genomic databases, and regulatory agency publications.

This wiki serves three key audiences: public health professionals, who can use it to facilitate hypothesis generation during outbreak investigations by quickly identifying historical outbreak patterns, common food vehicles, and geographical hotspots; food industry professionals, who can leverage it for root cause analysis, traceback investigations, and understanding contamination risks posed by specific serovars; and researchers in academia, who can rapidly retrieve serovar-specific information, avoid redundant literature searches, and identify understudied serovars for future work.

At a Glance

Metric Count
Serovars covered 111 (107 non-typhoidal, 3 typhoidal, 1 S. bongori)
Documented outbreaks 416 human, 12 animal
Border rejections 159
Product recalls 150
Data sources 15+ authoritative databases

Serovar Page Structure

Each serovar page follows a standardized eight-section format:

Section What's Included
Background Scientific name, antigenic formula, serogroup, first isolation, clinical symptoms, prevalence
Genetic Characteristics AMR patterns, virulence factors, phylogenetic classification
Animal Reservoir Known host associations and reservoir species
Geographical Distribution Countries and regions where the serovar has been reported
Human/Animal Outbreaks Year, location, source, case count
Border Rejections Exporting/enforcing country, source, product category
Recalls Year, location, recalled product, type
References Numbered citations to peer-reviewed literature and surveillance reports

Migrated from Confluence

This site replaces the original Confluence-based Wiki. All content has been migrated with full version control via Git.

Contact

Primary maintenance and curation by the Cornell Food Safety Laboratory (Wiedmann Lab).

Citation

Yang L, Yates CR, Phaophu P, Wiedmann M, Orsi RH. Salmonella Serovar Wiki: a curated web portal providing a comprehensive summary of Salmonella serovars for academia, industry, and public health. mSphere. 2025;10(11):e00455-25. doi:10.1128/msphere.00455-25

References

[1] Scallan E, et al. 2011. Foodborne illness acquired in the United States—major pathogens. Emerg Infect Dis 17:7-15. doi:10.3201/eid1701.p11101