Typhoid Fever (Salmonella typhi)
CSTE Position Statement Number: 09-ID-67.
An illness caused by Salmonella typhi that is often characterized by insidious onset of sustained fever, headache, malaise, anorexia, relative bradycardia, constipation or diarrhea, and nonproductive cough. However, many mild and atypical infections occur. Carriage of S. typhi may be prolonged.
Isolation of S. typhi from blood, stool, or other clinical specimen
Probable: a clinically compatible case that is epidemiologically linked to a confirmed case in an outbreak
Confirmed: a clinically compatible case that is laboratory confirmed
Isolation of the organism is required for confirmation. Serologic evidence alone is not sufficient for diagnosis. Asymptomatic carriage should not be reported as typhoid fever. Isolates of S. typhi are reported to the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC, through the Public Health Laboratory Information System (PHLIS).
The 1997 case definition appearing on this page was originally published in the 1990 MMWR and re-published in the 2009 CSTE position statement 09-ID-67.1,2 Thus, the 1990, 1997, and 2010 versions of the case definition are identical.