One page essay on food born illness.

Food borne illnesses are caused by consuming contaminated foods or beverages. There are many different disease-causing microbes, or pathogens. In addition, poisonous chemicals, or other harmful substances can cause food borne illnesses if they are present in food. More than two hundred and fifty different food borne illnesses have been described; almost all of these illnesses are infections. They are caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can be food borne. Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue. Governments all over the world are intensifying their efforts to improve food safety. Food borne illnesses are diseases, usually either infectious or…show more content… Human illness typically follows consumption of food or water that has been contaminated with microscopic amounts of cow feces. The illness it causes is often a severe and bloody diarrhea and a painful abdominal cramp. In 3% to 5% of cases, a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome can occur several weeks after the initial symptoms. These severe complications include temporary anemia, profuse bleeding, and kidney failure. Although their incidence is relatively low, their severe and sometimes fatal health consequences, particularly among infants, children, and the elderly.  Calicivirus or Norwalk virus is an extremely common cause of foodborne illness, though it is rarely diagnosed, because the laboratory test is not widely available. It causes an acute gastrointestinal illness, usually with more vomiting than diarrhea that resolves within two days. Unlike many food borne pathogens that have animal reservoirs, it is believed that Norwalk viruses spread primarily from one infected person to another. Infected kitchen workers can contaminate a salad or sandwich, which they are preparing, if the virus is present on the hands. What is the infectious agent (pathogen) that causes this infectious disease? For example, the name of the bacteria, virus, or parasite. The foodborne illness I choose was Salmonella. Salmonella is a bacteria that causes an infection known as Salmonellosis. A person that is infected with Salmonella gets diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after being infected. Salmonella usually last four to seven days and most people recover without treatment. People with severe diarrhea must be hospitalized.  The Salmonella can spread in from the intestines to the bloodstream and other parts of the body and can cause death of not treated quickly with antibiotics. People with a weak immune system, elderly, and infants are more likely to…show more content Half the outbreak occurred in Illinois, at various Jimmy John’s outlets where people ate sandwiches containing the sprouts. During the investigation, the FDA took a sample from a water run-off that had bacteria identical to the strain of the Salmonella found in the outbreak.

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