Typhoid fever is an intestinal illness, which can result in great suffering and even death. At first it was commonly confused with other fever causing illnesses until 1869 when William Jenner performed a careful analysis and found differences in the different types of typhus fevers. In this paper, I will discuss the bacteria that causes typhoid fever, discuss the signs, symptoms, method of transmission, past and current epidemics, and whether or not there has been a decrease in outbreaks in the past few years.

Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, a member of the genus Salmonella, which is included in the Enterobacteriaceae family. Salmonella typhi cells are aerobic, gram negative rods that affect the gastrointestinal tracts of humans, and occasionally the bloodstream. There are three antigenic structures of Salmonella: the H antigen, O antigen, and Vi antigen. The O antigens are responsible for the...