Word of the Week: how a bacteria unrelated to fish got its name “salmonella”

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June 11, 2025

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editor@creativeunderworld.com

Agar plates with salmonella cultures ready for testing in the Medical Microbiology at the Houston Health and Human Services Department on June 18, 2015, in Houston. (  / Houston Chronicle ) (Photo by Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Despite its fishy name, the bacteria salmonella has no connection to the underwater creature.

(Image credit: Mayra Beltran)