Food Poisoning : Assignment

Food Borne Diseases and the pathogens that cause them
Food Poisoning Incident at Hilton
Brisbane
The Incident:
More than 50 guests fell ill after attending Hilton Hotel reception, including three
who had to be hospitalised. The Incident occurred in 2006.
Why did the guests fall sick?
Early tests, and reports from pathological findings showed positive results for
Norovirus, a highly contagious virus that can cause vomiting and diarrhoea. The
symptoms of the disease can start as early as 12 hours.
Objective
Studying the different food borne illnesses, and to identify three action based
solutions to prevent the risks of foods borne diseases.
Food Borne Illnesses
A number of diseases can be spread through contaminated food, leading to food
poisoning. Studies have identified at least 250 types of food borne illnesses, most
of which are caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites.
According to CDC, food borne illnesses affects 48 million people every year,
causing the hospitalization of 128,000 people and death of 3000 people each year.
The Most common Food Borne Germs are: Norovirus, Salmonella, Clostridium,
Campylobacter and Staphylococcus (cdc 2018)
The typical symptoms of Food Borne Illness includes: vomitting, diarrheal,
abdominal pain, fever and chills (niddk.nih.gov 2018).
Food Borne Illnesses can also lead to complications such as Dehydration,
Haemolytic uremic syndrome, reactive arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome,
Guillain-Barré syndrome and can lead to hospitalizations (niddk.nih.gov 2018).
Here the diseases spread by Norovirus, Salmonella, Clostridium , E. Coli.
Camplylobacter and Staphylococcus will be discussed.
Food Poisoning by Norovirus
 Pathogen: Norovirus, Virus
 Incubation Period: 12-48 hours
 Mode of Transmission: Faecal-oral route, person to person transmission
 Common sources: infected individuals, contaminated food like leafy green
vegetables, shellfish and contaminated water
 Infectiousness: High
 Symptoms: Diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pain, nausea and fever
 Prevention: Washing hands (especially after using toilet, and before meals),
avoiding contact of bare hands with ready to eat food, sanitising all surfaces
that come in contact with food.
 (Ahmet et al., 2014)
Treatments
The Common treatments for food poisoning are:
 Fluid replacement
 Constant monitoring of changes in condition
 Oral Rehydration solution
 Medications for diarrhoea
 Emergency medical services

Salmonellosis
 Pathogen: Salmonella, Bacteria
 Incubation Period: 12 to 72 hours
 Mode of Transmission: Faecal oral route, contact with infected person (It
should be noted that the disease can also be spread by infected individuals with
no symptoms of the disease)
 Common sources: Eggs, raw or uncooked poultry meat, unpasteurized milk,
cheese, raw fruits or even vegetables.
 Infectiousness: High
 Symptoms: Nausea, diarrhoea, vomitting, prolonged high fever, stomach
cramps, headache, fatigue
 Prevention: Washing hands after using toilet and before meals, avoiding
contact of ready to eat food with bare hands, sanitising surfaces that come in
contact with food.
 (Dougnon et al., 2016)
Botulism
 Pathogen: Clostridium botulinum, bacteris
 Incubation Period: 18 to 36 hours
 Mode of Transmission: Botulinum toxin
 Common sources: Improperly canned foods, fermented foods, spoilt food
 Infectiousness: High
 Symptoms: blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, problems
swallowing, muscular weakness, paralysis. The symptoms generally starts from
the head and then moves downwards as severity increases
 Prevention: Avoid eating canned foods which has visible distensions, properly
cooking food, especially meat before eating.
 (Shrivastava et al., 2017)
Food Poisoning by Clostridium
perfringens
 Pathogen: Clostridium perfringens, bacteria
 Incubation Period: 6 to 24 hours
 Mode of Transmission: Faecal Oral route, contaminated and improperly
cooked food
 Common sources: Poultry or beef, dried or pre cooked meals
 Infectiousness: Medium
 Symptoms: Diarrhoea, stomach cramps,
 Prevention: Storing food as proper temperatures , refrigerating leftovers,
throwing away spoilt food.
 (Stringer, 2018)
Escherichia coli infection
 Pathogen: Escherichia coli, bacteria
 Incubation Period: 3 to 4 days
 Mode of Transmission: Faecal oral route, contaminated food, direct contact
with infected person
 Common sources: Raw of undercooked meat, unpasteurized milk,
contaminated water
 Infectiousness: Medium
 Symptoms: Stomach pain/cramps, diarrheal, vomiting
 Prevention: washing hands properly, cooking meat thoroughly and at proper
temperatures, avoiding raw or unpasteurised milk or diary products and
unwashed fruits or vegetables.
 (Luna-Gierke et al., 2014)
Listeriosis
 Pathogen: Listeria monocytogens, bacteria
 Incubation Period: 1 to 4 weeks
 Mode of Transmission: Faecal oral route, direct contact with cont6aminated
food or infected person
 Common sources: Unpasteurized milk, raw sprouts, processed meat, cold cuts,
undercooked meat
 Infectiousness: Low
 Symptoms: For pregnant women, the symptoms can include fever and flu like
symptoms like fatigue, muscular pain and the infection can even lead to
abortion. For others, the symptoms are headache, stiffness in neck, loss of
balance, convulsions
 Prevention: Cleaning vegetables and fruits, washing hands thorough lie before
eating and after using toilet, cooking food properly, storing meat at proper
temperatures.
 (de Noordhout et al., 2014)
Staph infection
 Pathogen: Straphylococcus aurelius, bacteria
 Incubation Period: 30 minutes to 6 hours
 Mode of Transmission: Direct contact with contaminated people or food,
 Common sources: Improperly cooked meat, contaminated food, contaminated
water, contact with contaminated surfaces
 Infectiousness: Very High
 Symptoms: Diarrheal, nausea, stomach cramps
 Prevention: washing hands properly, cooking the food at proper temperatures,
avoiding preparing food by individuals infected by the disease, using gloves or
proper clothing to prevent the food touching bare skin, keeping food serving
areas and equipments clean and sterile., storing the food properly under proper
temperatures.
Campylobacteriosis
 Pathogen: Campylobacter pyroli
 Incubation Period: 2 to 5 days
 Mode of Transmission: Faecal oral route, direct contamination of food and
water
 Common sources: Raw or undercooked meat, poultry or dairy products
 Infectiousness: High
 Symptoms: Diarrheal, stomach cramps, and fever
 Prevention: Washing hands properly, storing food at proper temperature,
discarding spoilt food, cleaning all surfaces thoroughly
 (Skarp et al., 2016)
Hepatitis A
 Pathogen: Hepatitis A virus
 Incubation Period: 10 to 50 days
 Mode of Transmission: Faecal oral route, direct contamination of food and
water
 Common sources: Contaminated food or water, infected individuals
 Infectiousness: Very High
 Symptoms: Fever, nausea, fatigue, pain in the abdomen, loss of appetite,
jaundice.
 Prevention: properly washing hands, avoiding contact of food with bare hands,
cleaning all surface that comes in contact with food properly. Vaccination
 (Modiwala. & Mavare, 2015)
Most effective Precautions:
 Washing hands (after using toilet and before every meal)
 Cooking food (especially meat) properly at the right temperatures
 Keeping raw and cooked food separate
 Cleaning raw vegetables and fruits properly before eating
 Ensuring all surfaces and equipments for handling food are clean and sterile
 Avoiding contact of food with bare skin
 Avoiding the cooking and handling of food by infected individuals
 Avoiding the consumption of improperly or uncooked meat, dairy or poultry
 Checking the packaging of canned foods (especially meat) before consumption
 Storing food at the right temperatures
 Discarding food that seems spoilt
References:
 Ahmed, S. M., Hall, A. J., Robinson, A. E., Verhoef, L., Premkumar, P., Parashar, U. D., ... & Lopman, B. A. (2014). Global prevalence of norovirus in cases of gastroenteritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet infectious
diseases, 14(8), 725-730.
 cdc.gov. (2018). Signs and Symptoms of Food Poisoning. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/symptoms.html#symptoms
 de Noordhout, C. M., Devleesschauwer, B., Angulo, F. J., Verbeke, G., Haagsma, J., Kirk, M., ... & Speybroeck, N. (2014). The global burden of listeriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 14(11),
1073-1082.
 Dougnon, T. V., Bankolé, H. S., Johnson, R. C., Houmanou, G., de Souza, M., Baba-Moussa, L., & Boko, M. (2016). Review on the problematic of Salmonellosis and interests of traditional herbs in the treatment. Clinical
Microbiology, 5(3), 1-4.
 health.state.mn.us (2018)., Causes and Symptoms of Foodborne Illness, retrieved on 14 May, 2018., From: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/dtopics/foodborne/basics.html
 Luna-Gierke, R. E., Griffin, P. M., Gould, L. H., Herman, K., Bopp, C. A., Strockbine, N., & Mody, R. K. (2014). Outbreaks of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection: USA. Epidemiology & Infection, 142(11),
2270-2280.
 medlineplus.gov (2018)., Foodborne Illness., retrieved on 14 May, 2018, From: https://medlineplus.gov/foodborneillness.html
 Modiwala, A., & Wavare, R. R. (2015). Hygienic Practice and Knowledge of food borne diseases in Home Kitchen Handlers. National Journal of Community Medicine, 6(4), 541-546.
 niddk.nih.gov. (2018). Foodborne Illnesses | NIDDK. Retrieved from https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/foodborne-illnesses
 Shrivastava, S. R., Shrivastava, P. S., & Ramasamy, J. (2017). Preventing the outbreaks of food-borne botulism and minimizing the risk of fatality. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 10(5), 1360.
 Skarp, C. P. A., Hänninen, M. L., & Rautelin, H. I. K. (2016). Campylobacteriosis: the role of poultry meat. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 22(2), 103-109.
 stopfoodborneillness.org (2018).,
 Stringer, M. F. (2018). Clostridium perfringens type A food poisoning. In Clostridia in gastrointestinal disease (pp. 117-138). CRC Press.
 What is Foodborne Illness., retrieved on: 14 May, 2018, From: http://www.stopfoodborneillness.org/awareness/what-is-foodborne-illness/
 who.int (2018), foodborne_disease, Retrieved on: 14 May, 2018, from: http://www.who.int/topics/foodborne_diseases/en/