.

Mi c r oo rg ani sms - patho gens of fo od po i soning an d foo d bo r ne

i nto xi catio ns
(stap hylo co cc i , E sc he ri c h ia , Sal monel l a , Cl o str i d ui m botul i num )
W hen yo u g e t sci k fr o m fo o d c ontami nated wi th ba c t e r i a or o th e r
pathoge ns , such as raw me at , i t i s r e ferr ed to as "foo d poisoni ng "
or "fo o dborne i l l ne ss . " So me typ e s of food p oi soni ng c au se vo m i ting ,
st omac h cram p s , and di ar r he a te mp o rarily , wh il e othe r s can be l e th al
( e spec i al l y to yo un g child ren and th e e l de r l y ) .
At l e ast 2 5 0 di ffer ent k i n d s of fo o d p oi so ni n g h av e been
do c ume n te d, but th e most c ommon o ne s are e . c o li , l i ste ri a , salmo-
ne l l a , and no rovi r u s , whi ch i s c o mm onl y cal led "sto mac h fl u . " Oth er
l e ss c o mmo n i l lnesse s th at can be transfe rr e d from fo o d o r fo o d
hand l ing ar e botu l si m, c ampyl obac ter , v i br i o , an d sh i g e ll a .
Commo nl y , th ese typ es o f food p o i soni ng are transfe rre d from :
U nwash ed h ands h and l ni g fo od
Unwashe d r aw fr ui t or v egg i es , or an y r aw p r odu c e wti h bac teri a
U nd e r c oo ke d or r aw m eat
Ro om t em p e rature foo d t hat shou ld be re fr i ge r ated
Cro ss -c o ntami nat io n of fo o d bacteri a
Inc o r r e c tly pr epar e d or st ore d deli meats , ho t dog s, o r g r ound be e f
U npaste ur iz e d mi lk
Spo i l ed d air y pr o d uc ts or soft c he eses
Cu tti ng bo ar d s , bowls , or k niv es th at ar e unwashe d o r cr o sscontami -
nate d w i th bact er i a
T his arti c l e p ro vi des a n o v e r v i ew o f th ese p ar tic ul ar var i eties of
fo odborne i l l nesses , o u r r igh t s to foo d safe ty , an d l i n k s to mo r e
d e tai l ed i nfo rm at io n abo ut e ac h. S e e F o o ds Mo st A ssoci ate d w i th
Fo od P o i soni ng and H o w Doe s Fo od Be c om e Con tami nated ? to
l e ar n mo r e . Ad diti o n al l y , you c an ch eck ou t Foodbor ne Il l ne sse s :
W h at Y o u Ne e d to K no w fr om t h e U . S . F oo d an d Drug
A d mi n i str a tio n ( FDA ) for an extensive l i st o f illnesse s.
E . Co l i
T h e fu l l nam e o f the part i c u lar type o f E . c o l i that c au se s
 i l l ness i s Esc he r i c hi a co l i 0 157 :H7. Mo st str ains of e. co l i ar e
h ar m l ess and found thro u g ho ut natu r e, whi l e the str ai n that c au ses
i l l ness i n humans i s foun d i n the inte st i ne s o f he althy l i ve sto ck (such as
cattl e , g oats , and sh eep ). E . col i usual ly i s sp r ead dur i ng th e
slau g h t eri ng p r oce ss , but al so c an g e t into r aw m li k at d ai r i e s and
c an eve n c ontami nate ne arby veg et abl e o r frui t c r o ps . Und er -c oo ked
me at and c ontami nate d r aw v eg etable s ar e the main so ur c es of E . col i
poi so ni ng , al o ng wi th per son -to - p er so n c ontact i n ho usehol d s an d
c h i l d c are ce nte r s .
S ymp toms : bl ood y di ar r he a , ki d ne y fai l u re ( i n se rious case s )
Mor e i nfor mat i on : Types of Foo d Poi soni ng: e . Col i
Li ster i a ( Listeri osi s )
The bac te r i um List er i a mo nocyt o g enes c an c ause a ser io u s in fectio n
cal l e d l i ster i o si s , whi c h m ostl y affects newbo rn ba bi es , pre gnant wo me n ,
and ad ults wi th si g n i fic antl y weak ened i mm u ne systems . Li ste ri a c an
be fou n d i n th e soi l and wate r and c an be car ri ed by h e al th y
farm ani mals as we l l . Unco o ke d ( o r und er -c o ok e d ) meats an d
ve g e tabl e s, as w ell as so me pr oc e sse d fo o d s pr i o r t o packaging ,
can c arr y th e o r ganism. B abie s c an contrac t li ster i o ri s fr om th ei r
m o th e r s befo r e bi r th.
To p of For m
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B ottom o f For m
Symp t om s : fev e r , musc l e ac h e s , nause a , di ar r hea , l oss o f
bal anc e , co n v u l si ons
M or e info r m ati o n : T ype s o f F o od Poi so ni n g : Li ste ri a / Li ste r i o si s
N or ovi rus
O ften c al l ed "sto mac h flu , " no rovir us re fer s to a g r ou p of vi ru ses
 fo un d pri mar i l y i n t h e stool or vo mi t of i nfe c te d i n di vi du al s . Noro vi r us
i s hgi h l y c on tag i ous bu t no t l e th al and u su all y passe s afte r o ne o r
two d ays . Infe cted fo o d -serv ice wor ke r s , who fail to wash the i r
hand s aft er usi ng th e bathro o m and th e n h and l e fo od or to uc h
k itc h en sur faces , o fte n spr e ad th e i l l ne ss . Touc h ing i nfe c t ed surface s ,
i ncl u d i n g oth er p eo ple , and the n to uch ing one 's mo uth i s an oth e r
way to contr ac t th e vi ru s .
Symp to m s : n ausea , vo m i ti ng , diar rh e a , stomach c r ampi n g
M or e i nfor matoi n : Typ e s of F o od Poi soni ng : No r o vi r us
S al mone l l a ( S al mo n el l osi s )
T he fam i l y o f bac ter i um re ferr ed to as Sal mone l l a enter i ca , wh i c h
i n c l ud es si x k no w n subspe c ie s , c au ses an i l lness known as
sa lmo ne l l o sis . S al mo n e l l a can be fo und i n raw c h ic k en or eg gs ;
spo i l ed or mi sh andle d mi l k ; r e p ti l e s ; tai n te d pr o du c e ; and p oul tr y ,
pork , or be e f . A m o r e se rio u s but l ess co m mo n for m of
sal monel l o si s can le ad t o typho id fe v er , w hi ch c an be fatal . Most p eopl e
r e cov er afte r fo ur to se ve n days wi th out t r eat m ent bu t c an be
dead l y i f i t g ets i nto th e bl oodstre am ( i n w hi c h case an tibio ti c s ar e
nece ssary ) .
Symp toms : diar r h ea , fe ver , abd o m i n al c ramp s
M o r e i nfo r mati on : Typ es o f Fo od Po i soni ng : S al mo nel l a
Y o ur Ri gh t to S afe F o o d Fr o m Re staur ants and Gr o ce r y S to re s
In the U ni ted S t at e s , states ofte n hav e i nd i v i dual st and ar ds and
l aws reg ar d ni g foo d safet y and the pr ev e nti on o f foodbor ne d i sease.
I nd i v i d ual g o v er nme n t age nc i e s wit hi n eac h state m ay al so hav e
gu i d el i ne s for fo o d hand le r s and r e staur an ts . I n 2 01 1 , the feder al
governme nt p assed o verar c hi n g stan dar ds to re duce cases o f fo od
p oi so ni n g wti h th e Fo o d Safe ty M o der n izati on A c t (F S MA ) and al so
fun ds th e Ce nte r s for D i sease Con t r ol and Pr eve nti on ( CD CP ) t o
w o r k to pr eve nt l i fe - t h reate n ing i l ln e sse s and commo n c au se s of
fo o d po i so ni ng .
If yo u o r a l ov e d on e has suffer ed a seri ous i llne ss fr om foo d
po i soni ng from a re staur ant , v en do r , or groc e ry sto r e , yo u may
be abl e to see k co m p ensati o n fo r thei r negl i g en c e wi th the h e l p o f a
p e rsonal i nju ry att or ne y i n yo ur st at e . Th o u gh the y c an be compl ex
to p rov e , the se case s are espec ai l l y se ri ous and can be fata l fo r
yo ung c h il d r en or t h e el d er l y , and sho u l d be tak en ser i ousl y .