What is Hepatitis A?

Hepatitis' means inflammation or swelling of the liver. It can be caused by chemicals or drugs, or by different kinds of viral infections. Hepatitis A virus is one type of hepatitis. Hepatitis A virus is a member of the Hepatovirus genus of the family Picornaviridae, and is a nonenveloped single-stranded RNA virus

Most adults with hepatitis A have symptoms, including fatigue, low appetite, stomach pain, nausea, and jaundice (yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, light-colored bowel movements). Most children less than 6 years of age do not have symptoms.

Symptoms of hepatitis usually show about four weeks after contact with the virus. Sometimes symptoms will appear between two and seven weeks.

Hepatitis is most often caused by a virus. It is a vaccine-preventable illness. In the United States, the most common types of viral hepatitis are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

The hepatitis A virus is transmitted through ingestion of contaminated food and water or through direct contact with an infectious person.

The risk of hepatitis A infection is associated with a lack of safe water and poor sanitation and hygiene (such as contaminated and dirty hands).

Contamination of food with the hepatitis A virus can happen at any point: growing, harvesting, processing, handling, and even after cooking.

To reduce the risk of exposure to Hepatitis A:
*Wash hands thoroughly before eating
*Everyone should always wash their hands thoroughly before preparing food or drink
*Avoid eating foods that may be contaminated with Hepatitis A virus such as raw oysters and raw shellfish.
What is Hepatitis A?

Entamoeba histolytica can cause dysentery

Currently five types of protozoa are of concern: Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, Cryptosporidium parvum, Naegleria and Acanthamoeba. Entamoeba histolytica is a microscopic endoparasitic of humans. It is chiefly found in the colon of large intestine.

Entamoeba histolytica, the cause of amoebic dysentery, is spread principally by fecal contamination of water, food, body parts and diverse objects: sexual partners make an epidemiological impact.

It can be transmitted by the poor personal hygiene of food handlers, contamination of ready-to-eat foods such as fruits or vegetables, from drinking water, and by insect vectors such as flies.

Entamoeba histolytica infection is widespread in subtopic areas. Infection begins when trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica invade the colonic mucosa.

The majority of infected people do not display any pathology, and the parasite exists as a commensal, continuing to multiply and spread. Only a small fraction of the infected individuals show overt symptoms of amebiasis with invasion in the intestinal tissues or in some extraintestinal sites, such as liver.
Entamoeba histolytica can cause dysentery

Foods associated with Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacteriosis is the leading cause of diarrhoea in the developed world, who the number of cases exceeding those salmonellosis and shigellosis. Campylobacter jejune is a harmless inhabitant of the gastrointestinal tract of a variety of wild and domestic animals. Studies have revealed that as many as 30-100% of poultry 40-60% of cattle, and 60-80% of swine carry the organism in there intestinal tracts.

For this reason, the organisms principally associated with foods of animal origin. A comprehension survey of US retail fresh red meat and poultry 4-5% of pork, 3.5%of beef and 8 % of lamb contained C. jejuni and/or C.coli.

C. jejune frequently contaminates raw chicken. Surveys show that 20 to 100% of retail chickens are contaminated. This is not overly surprising since many healthy chickens carry these bacteria in there intestinal tract.

Raw milk is also source of infections. The bacterial are often carried by healthy cattle and by flies on farms. Non-chlorinated water may also be a source of infections. However, properly cooking chicken, pasteurising milk, and chlorinating drinking water will kill the bacteria.
Foods associated with Campylobacter jejuni

Brucella spp

Brucella is the cause of brucellosis. Brucella spp, are Gram-negative intracellular bacteria and the etiologic agents of the worldwide zoonotic disease brucellosis.

Transmission to humans occurs via direct contact through abraded skin or mucous membranes, consumption of contaminated food products, or inhalation.

Brucella spp, are potential bioterrorism and biological warfare agents. Brucellosis is associated with granulomas or abscesses in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, lymph nodes and lungs.

Today, brucellosis in humans is mainly occupational (abattoir, animal industry, hunters and health workers).

Symptoms like undulant fever, tiredness, night sweats, headaches, and chills may drag on as long as three months before the illness becomes severe and debilitating enough to require medical attention.
Brucella spp

Food associated with salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is a bacteria disease characterized by sudden onset of headache, abdominal gain, diarrhea, nausea, sometimes vomiting and almost always fever. Food-associated Salmonella infections in the United States are estimated by the US Department of Agriculture to cost $3 billion annually.

Shellfish, egg products, prepared salads, and to some extent, raw and cooked meats have often associated with the transmission of salmonellosis.

Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks are most frequently associated with the consumption of poultry products especially undercooked eggs and chicken.

Raw shellfish may be taken from waters contaminated with Salmonella bacteria and cooked shellfish meats may contaminated with humans since they are usually removed from their shell by hand.

Poultry of all types, beef cattle, and hogs may have salmonellosis or be carriers of the organisms causing the disease; hence under conditions of cooking in which these organisms are not destroyed, they may be transmitted by humans.  

Latest large outbreaks have been linked with eating tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and peanut butter.

From 1998 through 2003, the US Department of Agriculture-Food Safety Inspection Service reported isolation of Salmonella from 11.2% to 22.5% of broiler and ground chicken samples, respectively.

As it is impossible for many raw foods to be produced free from Salmonella at source, it is important to establish animal husbandry and crop agriculture regimes that can make a positive contribution to minimizing the frequency and level of contamination of these primary raw materials by Salmonella.
Food associated with salmonellosis 

Listeria monocytogenes food contamination

Although Listeria monocytogenes was recognized as a cause of human disease for more than 75 years it was not until the 1980s that food foodborne association was realized and accepted.

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive, facultative anaerobic, non-sporeforming rod, which expresses a typical tumbling motility at 20-25 ° C, but not at 35 ° C. The organism is psychotropic and grows over a temperature range of 0°  to 45 ° C, with an optimum around 37 ° C.

Listeria can survive acid, nitrite and salt and can thrive even in the refrigerator. It is well established that any fresh food product of animal or plant origin may harbor varying numbers of Listeria monocytogenes.

In general, the organism has been found in raw milk; soft cheese, fresh and frozen meat, poultry and seafood products; and on fruits and vegetable products.

Its prevalence in milk and dairy products has received much attention because of early outbreaks. Dairy cow that appear healthy can serve as reservoirs for Listeria monocytogenes and secret the organism in milk. Once obtained from the cow, milk may further contaminated through inadvertent contact with feces and silage, both of which often contain Listeria and are normally present in the diary farm environment.

Raw vegetables also have been implicated as sources in multiple listeriosis outbreaks. Vegetables may become increasingly important in human listeriosis transmission since current trend in food consummation patterns reflect increasing consumption of raw and ready-to-eat vegetable.
Listeria monocytogenes food contamination

Hepatitis A and food contamination

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. The disease is not readily recognized when a person becomes jaundiced. Knowledge of the disease that was initially called infectious hepatitis has increased greatly since the 1950s, when Hepatitis A became reportable in the United States.

According to the CDC, Hepatitis A accounts for 25% of all viral hepatitis in the United States. Hepatitis A is one of the more severe food borne diseases.

Hepatitis A was transmitted primarily by the fecal-oral route and distinguished this disease from serum hepatitis, or hepatitis B.

The virus of Hepatitis A can be shed in feces for up to 14 days before the onset of illness. The Hepatitis A virus is an enteric virus, which causes a liver disease in humans now known as hepatitis A.

There are number of different hepatitis viruses but only the Hepatitis A virus and possibly Hepatitis E virus can cause food borne disease.

In the United States, the most common source of infection is contact with an HAV-infected person.

The importance of food and water in the transition of Hepatitis A has been well established. Contamination comes from infected food, water polluted with infected fecal matter, contaminated foods, vegetables, and sea foods, like shell fish, which are often caught in contaminated water.

Hepatitis A virus infection is highly endemic in developing countries where children have experience mild infections and acquired active immunity by the age of six.

Hepatitis A virus manifests only acute symptoms that include fatigue, jaundice, fever, nausea, abdominal pain, light stool and dark urine.
Hepatitis A and food contamination

Diarrhea due to food contamination

Diarrhea is a symptom, not a disease. Usually resulted from an infection in the intestines, through in some cases it may arise from a more serious problem.

Diarrhea may be due to a variety of causes. Spoiled food in one of the culprits. Food poisoning is a common flu-like typically characterized by nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, due to something the victim ate or drank.

In food poisoning, bacteria grow on flyblown, producing toxins, or poisons, that may lead to diarrhea and stomach upsets.

Sometimes illness is caused not y the bacteria themselves but by the toxins they produce, either before or after ingestion.

Excessive consumption of alcohol or fatty and spicy food, or ingestion of food that too hot or too cold in temperature also can cause diarrhea.

Diarrhea due to excesses in respect to general dietary norms is classed as food damage diarrhea. Food damage diarrhea includes some forms of stomach, large intestinal and small intestinal diarrhea.

More than 200 diseases can be transmitted though food. Infectious organisms, present in food though poor hygiene, practices, are responsible for most cases of food poisoning.

Symptoms which usually diarrhea and vomiting, tend to occur suddenly and disappeared rapidly.

The onset of watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and pain occurs 6 to 15 hours after consumption of contaminated food.

Diarrhea due to food contamination