Food Microbiology

Food Borne Pathogens, Diseases & Public Health

The epidemiology of foodborne infection is changing. New pathogens have emerged, and some have spread worldwide. Many bacteria including Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, and Yersinia enterocolitica, have reservoirs in healthy food animals, from which they are spreadind to an increased variety of foods. These pathogens cause millions of cases of sporadic illness and chronic complication, as well as large and challenging outbreaks over many states and nations. Improved surveillance that combines rapid subtyping method, cluster identification, and collaborative epidemiologic investigation can identify large, dispersed outbreaks. Outbreak investigations and case-control studies of sporadic cases can identify infection sources and guide the development of specific prevention strategies. Better understanding of how pathogens are persisting in animal reservoirs is also critical to successful long-term prevention. Prevention of foodborne disease will increasingly depend on contamination control of feed and water consumed by the animals themselves.