3rd ASM Conference on Salmonella

We are requesting funds to provide support for the 3rd ASM Salmonella conference to be held from 5-9 October 2009 in Aix-en-Provence, France. This conference is sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology, which provides both management expertise and financial support. The conference program is based upon the two previous ASM Conferences on Salmonella, which were held from 20-24 September 2003, in Sardinia, Italy and from 9-13 September 2006, in Victoria, BC, Canada. This conference series is the only one that covers all aspects of Salmonella research. Both of the preceding ASM Salmonella conferences were well attended and we expect 300-350 attendees from around the world. <P> The proposed program has a broad scientific focus and will include sessions on; Evolution, Genetics and Physiology, Animal Infections and Food Safety, Immunology and Vaccines and Pathogenesis. The list of invited speakers will include many of the preeminent scientists in the field, with special emphasis on those who have not given oral presentations at the previous meetings, women and underrepresented minority groups. <P> We are confident that the meeting will provide a venue for scientists to present the latest advances in the field and to initiate interdisciplinary interactions and discussion. Public Health Relevance Statement Salmonellae cause a variety of diseases, ranging from gastroenteritis to enteric fever, in humans and other animals. <P> In the developed world non-typhoidal serovars (NTS) including Typhimurium, Enteritidis, Heidelberg and Dublin are common food borne pathogens. Other less common serovars, can cause disease if introduced into the food chain, as has been well illustrated by the recent SaintPaul outbreak in the US. In the US unlike other common food borne infections, including Campylobacter and Shigella, NTS has not shown any signs of decreasing in the last despite major efforts to limit the bacterial burden in farmed poultry and other animals. NTS has a strong association with HIV, since in immunocompromised patients it can cause a severe systemic disease, and is now the most common cause of bacteremia in many sub-Saharan African countries. <P> The enteric fevers, Typhoid and Paratyphoid, are caused by serovars that only infect humans and higher primates. These diseases cause over 20 million infections per year and typhoid alone is responsible for over 200,000 deaths. Drug resistant strains of Salmonella are appearing - some as the result of nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in food producing animals. <P> The conference will provide a forum for the Salmonella research community to present and discuss the most recent advances and ideas. The broad spectrum of subjects covered at this conference, from basic genetics and physiology to pathogenesis and drug resistance, will facilitate interdisciplinary interactions and ultimately accelerate research aimed at controlling and treating Salmonella infections.