Salmonellosis in Israel

Israel’s epidemiological climate is characterized by the fact that in a comparatively small country (20,850 km2) with extremely varied geographical and meteorological conditions the population rose since the establishment of the state in 1948 and in the wake of mass-immigration, from about 800,000 to 2,320,000 at the end of 1962. Thus a situation has arisen in which elements old and new came into close contact in a limited area and people living in most primitive conditions and hailing partly from underdeveloped areas of the east, bringing with them diseases and various cultural habits characteristic of their countries of origin, have come to live side by side with people who, for a long period, had been enjoying all the comforts of civilization and technological attainments of the twentieth century. This peculiar composition entails on one hand a high incidence of such diseases which usually spread under conditions of backward personal hygiene, while it leads, on the other hand, to a low incidence of diseases which are apt to be controlled by general public health measures. Owing to the limited area of the country and in view of the high standard of medical care, the health authorities are generally aware and well-informed of the changing epidemiological situation. At any rate it is quite remarkable that in the years of mass-immigration following the establishment of the State, when scores of thousands of newcomers were living in extremely crowded conditions together with people suffering from various communicable diseases, there were no large outbreaks of epidemics.