Which pathogen typically causes self-limited gastroenteritis with fever and diarrhea and is often acquired from contaminated poultry or eggs?

• A. Non-typhoidal Salmonella
• B. Shigella
• C. EPEC
• D. EAEC

Answer: (A)

Non-typhoidal Salmonella is a classic cause of acute, self-limited gastroenteritis with fever and diarrhea acquired from contaminated poultry or eggs. After ingestion, Salmonella invades the intestinal lining and triggers an inflammatory response that produces abdominal cramps, fever, and watery (sometimes bloody) diarrhea, typically resolving within a few days to a week. Poultry and eggs are well-known reservoirs and common sources of exposure.

Other options don’t fit the same source and clinical pattern as neatly. Shigella can cause fever and diarrhea but is more linked to person-to-person spread and often presents with more frequent, smaller-volume stools and sometimes blood, not specifically tied to poultry/eggs. EPEC and EAEC are diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes that more often affect infants or travelers and usually present with watery diarrhea, sometimes without fever, and are not characteristically associated with poultry or eggs.