This is Sammy Salmonella. Sammy has an award ceremony at his school today, and the grand prize is the "Pathogen of the Year" Award. Sammy has always dreamed of becoming the Pathogen of the Year!

At recess, Sammy argued with his friend, Eric E. Coli. "Sammy, what makes you think that you deserve the Pathogen of the Year award?" Eric sneered.

Sammy was getting angry and told Eric why he knew he deserved that award. "Well, first of all I get a lot of people sick- over one million people a year- because I give them Salmonelliosis. They get headaches, fevers, chills and even throw up because of me! How many people do you get sick a year, Eric?"

I'm the best pathogen!

No, I'm the best pathogen!

“Oh yeah?” Eric retorted. “Well, I make one hundred thousand people sick a year which is still a lot!” Eric could feel his face getting hot from the embarrassment. As Eric was thinking of something to say that would make him the best pathogen, their friend, Isaac Influenza walked up to them.

"Hi, guys. What are two talking about that has you both looking so angry?" Isaac asked. Eric quickly responded "Sammy here thinks that he deserves the pathogen of the year award just because he makes more people sick than I do! It isn't fair, we both get people sick from eating infected foods such as meat and seafood!" Eric responded, angrier than before.

Isaac thought for a second before he said "Eric, the number of people he gets sick per year isn't the only reason that he is the best pathogen. He gets people sick from all kinds of things such as infected poultry, eggs, seafood, fruits and vegetables."

Eric continued to argue with Sammy and Isaac. "We both have a lot of ways to get people sick and we both cause bacterial diseases that aren't spread virally like Isaac Influenza, so whats the difference?" Eric asked.

Isaac sighed, and said to Eric "If you had paid attention in our pathogen history class, you would know that there were eighteen reported outbreaks of salmonella in 2018, the most recent one being in November because of infected raw Jennie-O turkey products, while there were only three reported E. Coli Outbreaks."

The bell that signifies that recess is over rang, and the boys walked back to class, each wondering who would be given the award at the end of the day.

Once they got back to class, their teacher, Ms. Sherry Shigella, told them that the award ceremony was about to begin and the Pathogen of the Year would be named. The class could barely contain their excitement to see which one of them would win the award.