Running head: FOODBORNE ILLNESS 1

Foodborne Illness

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Foodborne Illness

Foodborne diseases occur from the consumption of a given food and have become a

considerable concern for public health. According to Somnath (2017), Norovirus is a common

pathogen that causes infections via the contamination of food. About twenty-one million

individuals become infected by the Norovirus each year. The article Incidence of Foodborne

Illness records the outbreak of the illness from December 2016 to March 2017. The outbreak of

Norovirus was primarily from food contamination and transpired in various settings ranging

from private residences, healthcare facilities, daycare, and schools. Notably. The outbreak was

significantly high in restaurants, banquet, and catering settings, with two-thirds of healthcare

outbreaks occurring in nursing homes. Episodes of the illness got attributed to infected food

personnel and increased mortality of the elderly, mainly persons who are 65 years old or older.

Notably, about eight hundred persons died from the illness each year (Somnath, 2017).

Preventing the Norovirus outbreak would require various preventive measures revolving

around general and personal hygiene. Practicing proper hygiene of the hand before preparing,

handling, or eating food, and after using a toilet would be ideal in preventing the outbreak.

Primarily transmitted through food contamination, preventing the outbreak would require proper

handling of foods. This approach would require that handlers carefully wash vegetables and

fruits before eating or preparing them. Besides, continuous disinfection and cleaning surface to

minimize the instances of contamination. While making the food persons consume free from the

pathogen is of the essence, CDC (2019) posits that routine cleaning and sanitization of kitchen

counters, utensils, and surfaces before preparing food is the first core step. Through attending r

washing of laundry that might contain fecal material or vomit would also minimize the outbreak

of the foodborne illness.

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References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). “Norovirus Prevention.” Retrieved from

<https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html>

Somnath, P. (2017). “Incidence of Foodborne Illness.” US Pharm. 2017;42(12):14. Retrieved

from <https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/incidence-of-foodborne-illness>