The selection of microorganisms for this panel was based on studies in medical journals and peer-reviewed articles. While all targets are relevant on their own, there is some overlap in the consolidated test. For example, while the Salmonella genus is unquestionably clinically relevant, testing for the genus when the test already includes the Salmonella enterica species might be clinically redundant. The only other species of Salmonella is Salmonella bongori, a species that rarely infects humans and is mostly relevant to lizards . In our dataset of nearly 900 stool samples from healthy individuals, eight samples tested positive for the genus-level Salmonella target (S3 Table). In 6 of these, the relative Salmonella-genus abundance was less than 0.01%, the clinical relevance of which remains unclear. In one of the two remaining subjects, both Salmonella-genus and S. enterica abundance values were 0.674%, suggesting the same target was detected. In the remaining sample, Salmonella-genus was present at 1.84% but S. enterica was not detected, suggesting that this individual might have been colonized with S. bongori. Of note, none of these individuals reported having gastrointestinal problems. It remains to be determined whether these low counts of Salmonella are suggestive of the presence of clinically irrelevant, yet-uncharacterized strains, as has been reported in cattle .