BACTERIA | VIRUSES | PARASITES

BACTERIA

Salmonella (Sal' mo nel'ah)

Characteristics of Illness: Fever, cramps, diarrhea, and sometimes vomiting.

Onset: Illness may begin between 7 hrs to 3 days after eating contaminated food.

Duration: Illness may last 2-3 days.

Prevention of Illness:

• Avoid cross-contamination of ready-to-eat foods with raw foods.
  
• Thoroughly cook meat and poultry.
  
• Cook eggs thoroughly and never eat raw eggs or runny yolks.
  
• Always refrigerate processed meat products.
  
• Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly.

Foods associated with Salmonella: Raw poultry products. Salmonella has been found in cantaloupe, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts.

Characteristics of Illness: Diarrhea, often associated with fever, abdominal pain, nausea, headache and muscle pain. Illness can appear very similar to Salmonellosis.

Onset: Illness may begin between 2 to 5 days after eating contaminated food.

Duration: Illness may last 7 to 10 days.

Prevention of Illness:

• Avoid cross-contamination of ready-to-eat foods with raw foods.
  
• Cook meat and poultry thoroughly.
  
• Never drink raw milk.

Food Associated with Campylbactor: raw chicken.

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Characteristics of Illness: Vomitting, diarrhea and abdonimal cramps.

Onset: Illness may begin within 3-8 hours after eating contaminated food.

Duration: Illness usually last about 2 days.

Prevention of Illness:

• Always wash hands well when preparing foods.
  
• Keep foods refrigerated.

Foods Associated with Staphylococcus aureus: This bacteria affects a wide range of foods, including meat and meat products, poultry such as eggs, tuna, potato and macaroni salads cream-filled bakery products milk and dairy products.

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Characteristics of Illness: In healthy individuals this organism may result in diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. In immunocompromised individuals the very young, pregnant women, elderly and those with AIDS or undergoing cancer treatment Listeriosis may first appear as mild flu-like symptoms, but may then be followed by septicemia, meningitis, encephalitis and spontaneous abortion or stillbirth in pregnant women.

Onset: Illness may occur anywhere from 12 hrs to a few weeks after contaminated food is consumed.

Duration: In otherwise healthy individuals, mild symptoms may disappear in a day or two, but medical attention is required for immunosuppressed individuals who develop complications.

Prevention of Illness:

• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water.
  
• Keep foods refrigerated to slow the growth of Listeria
  
• Immunocompromised individuals should try to avoid eating soft-ripened cheeses or lunchmeats.

Foods Associated with Listeria Monocytogenes:
Raw milk, raw meat and raw vegetables. Ice Cream, soft ripened cheeses, smoked fish, lunch meats, hot dogs, refrigerated salad-type products. This organism is unique in the way it is able to grow even in refrigerated temperatures and who while refrigeration of foods will slow the growth of Listeria, it will not completely stop it.

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Characteristics of Illness: Severe cramping and diarrhea which is initially watery but becomes grossly bloodly. Young children are especially susceptile and in some cases complications which lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) may occur. HUS may lead to permanment loss of kidney failure, or fatality occurs in up to 15% of HUS cases.

Onset: Illness may occur anywhere between 1 to 10 days after eating contaminated food but usually occurs between 3-4 days.

Prevention:

• Cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
  
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly with running water
  
• Do not drink unpasteurized milk.
  
• Do not drink unpasteurized apple cider unless it is well refrigerated.

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Characteristics of Illness: Symptoms include double vision, vertigo, inablility to swallow, speech difficulty, and progressive respiratory paralysis. Nausea may also be present initially.

Onset: Symptoms may begin within 18 hrs to 2 days of ingesting the toxin.

Duration: Greater than 65% of cases are fatal. In non-fatal botulism poisoning recovery may take weeks to years depending on the severity of the poisoning.

Prevention of Illness:

• Follow appropriate techniques when home canning.
  
• Do not eat food from swollen, leaking, or severely damaged cans.
  
• Keep foods that are supposed to be refrigerated below 40 degrees F.
  
• Do not feed honey to infants under 1 year old.

Food Associated with Clostridium botulinum: Improperly home canned foods. Improperly processed or damaged canned or aseptically processed foods. Botulism is extremely rare but when it does occur it is often fatal. Infant botulism may occur when infants ingest honey containing C. botulinum spores that colonize and produce toxin in their intestines.

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Characteristics of Illness: Abdominal cramping and diarrhea.

Onset: Illness may begin between 8 to 22 hrs after ingesting contaminated food.

Duration: Illness may last 1-2 days.

Prevention of Illness: Keep hot foods hot (>140 degrees F) or refrigerate them rapidly (<40 degrees F) in shallow containers if they will not be served immediately.

Food associated with Clostridium perfringens: Meat and/or gravy dishes are often associated with this type of foodborne illness. Generally C perfringens poisoning occurs when such meat dishes and not cooked high enough temperatures then allowed to sit out at room temperature for serving for an extended period of time.

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Characteristics of Illness: Bacillus cereus may cause two different types of illness. The first is known as the Diarrheal illness, which results in diahrrhea and abdominal cramps occurring with 6 to 15 hours of eating contaminated food. This may persist for about 24 hours and resembles Clostridium perfringens food poisoning. The second type of illness caused by Bacillus cerus is know as the Emetic illness and results in nausea and vomiting within 3-6 hours of eating contaminated food. This illness also lasts about 24 hours and it tends to resemble Staphylococcal food poisoning.

Prevention of Illness:

• Keep hot foods hot(>140°F) and keep cold foods cold (<40°F)

Food associated with Bacillus cerus: Rice and grain products, dairy products such as milk, cream, custards, and dried milk.

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Characteristics of Illness: Diarrhea, abdominal cramps and nausea.

Onset: Illness may occur with 1 -4 days after eating contaminated food.

Duration: Illness may last for 2-3 days.

Prevention of Illness:

• Keep seafood well refrigerated.
  
• Avoid eating raw shellfish.

Food Associated with Vibrio paraheamolyticus: Seafood especially shellfish

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Characteristics of Illness: Severe watery diarrhea, including bloody diarrhea, fever and cramping.

Onset: Illness may begin between 12 hrs and 2 days after consuming contaminated food and water.

Prevention of Illness:

• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water.
  
• Always wash hands well when preparing foods.

Food associated with Shigella: Salads, raw produce, milk and dairy products. Contamination of foods with this bacteria is most commonly unsanitary handling by food handlers or contaminated water.

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VIRUSES

Characteristics of Illness: Sudden onset of fever, malaise, nausea and abdominal pain followed by several days of jaundice.

Onset: Illness may not occur until anywhere from a week to a month after consuming contaminated food.

Duration: Illness may last for 1-2 weeks.

Prevention of Illness:

• Always wash hands well when preparing food.
  
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water.
  
• Do not let ill workers handle or prepare food.

Foods Associated with Hep A: Sandwiches, shellfish, salads, vegetables and water. Transmission of this illness via foods is most often associated with contamination of food by infected food handlers.

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Characteristics of Illness: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. May be accompanied by headache, and low-grade fever.

Onset: Symptoms may appear between 24-48 hrs after consuming contaminated water or food.

Duration: Illness may last from 1-3 days

Prevention of Illness:

• Always wash hands well when preparing foods.
  
• Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water.
  
• Avoid eating raw shellfish.
  
• Do not let ill workers handle or prepare food.

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PARASITES

Characteristics of illness: Severe watery diarrhea, individuals who are immunosuppressed are especially susceptible to Cyptosporidium and may experience complications due to the resulting dehydration from the watery diarrhea.

Onset: Symptoms do not normally occur until about a week after consuming contaminated food or water.

Duration: Symptoms may last for 2-4days in otherwise healthy individuals but may persist for much longer in the immunocompromised.

Prevention of Illness:

• Washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly may prevent illness if the produce has come in contact with contaminated water or manure.

Foods associated with Cryptosporidium: Generally contaminated water supplies. Produce that has come in contact with contaminated water or manure.

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Characteristics of Illness: Prolonged watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, gas and stomach cramps, possibly accompanied by nausea, low grade fever, muscle aches and fatigue. Some individuals who are infected do not show symptoms.

Onset: Symptoms of illness do not normally occur until about a week after consuming contaminated food or water.

Duration: Symptoms often last a few days to as much as a month or longer. It is not uncommon for symptoms to reappear.

Prevention of Illness:

• Washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly may prevent illness if the produce has come in contact with contaminated water or manure.

Foods associated with Cyclospora: This parasite had historically been contaminated water, but recently been associated with a number of outbreaks due to foods such as raspberries, salad greens and fresh basil. It is suspected that these produce items may have come in contact with contaminated water during their production.

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Characteristics of Illness: Diarrhea

Onset: Illness generally occurs within one week of consuming contaminated food or water.

Duration: Diarrheal symptoms usually last 1 -2 weeks.

Prevention of Illness:

• Washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly may prevent illness if the produce has come in contact with contaminated water or manure.
  
• Do not let ill workers handle or prepare food.

Foods associated with Giardia: Contaminated water, possibly contaminated food handlers or produce that has been in contact with contaminated water.

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