Research

Administrative History

Physicians across the state were required to report each case of communicable disease legally designated as public health concerns to their local health officers, who forwarded the report to the state Department of Health. Reporting of individual cases, rather than monthly totals, began in 1914. Typhoid fever already was a reportable disease in 1914.

Typhoid fever is caused by a salmonella bacterium introduced into the system with food or drinking water. Salmonella bacteria are pathogenic for humans and other warm-blooded animals, and cause food poisoning, gastrointestinal inflammation, or diseases of the genital tract. A Widal test is used to confirm diagnosis of typhoid fever. Paratyphoid is a salmonellosis that resembles typhoid fever and is also commonly contracted by eating contaminated food.