Use of Molecular Subtyping in Surveillance for Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhimurium

S almonella enterica serotype typhimurium is the most common salmonella serotype isolated from humans and animals in the United States. From 1994 to 1998, this serotype made up 24 percent of salmonella isolates from humans and 19 percent of isolates from animals in the United States. 1 During the same period, 29 percent of salmonella isolates from Minnesota residents were of the serotype typhimurium. Currently, little is known about the molecular epidemiologic features of this organism. Salmonella surveillance efforts have focused on the serotype, location, and date of infection, but this traditional approach is not sensitive enough to detect outbreaks caused . . .