Food Borne Viruses

Food-borne viruses are recognized as a major health concern, but their distribution, definition, and impact are poorly understood. The volume Food-Borne Viruses goes a long way in correcting that problem. Written by leading scientists in the field, it brings together the latest knowledge on these viral strains, their detection and control, and associated challenges.

Viral transmission through contaminated food and water claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year, particularly affecting children in developing nations. Foodborne viral pathogens are associated with gastroenteritis and hepatitis, causing widespread epidemics that affect all populations and demographics worldwide. Foodborne Viral Pathogens comprehensively covers the predominant etiological viral agents of foodborne disease, including norovirus, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis E virus, astrovirus, sapovirus and rotavirus, and several emerging viruses and prions. By improving food safety awareness and viral detection, and through promotion of global food safety standards, our ability to cope with and control foodborne disease will be enhanced. Foodborne Viral Pathogens includes a detailed review of the molecular biology, potential vaccines, and available antiviral treatments of all major foodborne viral pathogens and prions. Written by specialists and leading virologists, this book features techniques used for typing, viral detection, strategies for control, and viral risk assessments. This book is intended as a detailed handbook for food microbiology and medical applications and will be a useful guide for anyone with an interest in foodborne disease.

This is the first book to focus entirely on viruses in foods. It collates information on the occurrence, detection, transmission, and epidemiology of viruses in various foods. Although methods for bacterial detection in food are available, methods for detection of viruses in food, with the exception of shellfish, are not available. It is important, therefore, to develop methods for direct examination of food for viruses and to explore alternate indicators that can accurately reflect the virological quality of food. This book addresses these issues along with strategies for the prevention and control of viral contamination of food.

Foodborne Diseases, Volume Fifteen, is the latest release in the Handbook of Bioengineering series. This volume covers the ever-changing complex issues that have emerged in the food industry over the past decade. This is a solid reference with broad coverage to provide a foundation for a practical understanding of diseases and related industrial applications. It will help researchers and scientists manage foodborne diseases and prevent and control outbreaks. The book provides information on the most common and classical foodborne diseases, their emergence and inquiries, along with the most investigated and successful strategies developed to combat these health-threatening conditions. Identifies the advances in biotechnology, emerging technologies, food safety and quality control that impact foodborne diseases Explores advances in vaccines to fight foodborne illness Addresses Campylobacter, Listeria, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Vibrio and Helicobacter Discusses biosensor based methods for determining foodborne pathogens Includes molecular typing of major foodborne pathogens

Globalization of the food supply has created conditions favorable for the emergence, reemergence, and spread of food-borne pathogens-compounding the challenge of anticipating, detecting, and effectively responding to food-borne threats to health. In the United States, food-borne agents affect 1 out of 6 individuals and cause approximately 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year. This figure likely represents just the tip of the iceberg, because it fails to account for the broad array of food-borne illnesses or for their wide-ranging repercussions for consumers, government, and the food industry-both domestically and internationally. A One Health approach to food safety may hold the promise of harnessing and integrating the expertise and resources from across the spectrum of multiple health domains including the human and veterinary medical and plant pathology communities with those of the wildlife and aquatic health and ecology communities. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop on December 13 and 14, 2011 that examined issues critical to the protection of the nation's food supply. The workshop explored existing knowledge and unanswered questions on the nature and extent of food-borne threats to health. Participants discussed the globalization of the U.S. food supply and the burden of illness associated with foodborne threats to health; considered the spectrum of food-borne threats as well as illustrative case studies; reviewed existing research, policies, and practices to prevent and mitigate foodborne threats; and, identified opportunities to reduce future threats to the nation's food supply through the use of a "One Health" approach to food safety. Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach: Workshop Summary covers the events of the workshop and explains the recommendations for future related workshops.

Developments such as the increasing globalization of the food industry, constant innovations in technologies and products, and changes in the susceptibility of populations to disease have all highlighted the problem of emerging pathogens, either newly discovered through more sensitive analytical methods, linked for the first time to disease in humans, or newly associated with a particular food. Designed for microbiologists and quality assurance professionals and for government and academic food safety scientists, this timely reference discusses ways of identifying emerging pathogens and includes chapters on individual pathogens, their epidemiology, methods of detection, and means of control.

Clearly linked to consumption of foods, beverages, and drinking water that contain pathogenic microbes, toxins, or other toxic agents, foodborne diseases have undergone a remarkable change of fortune in recent decades, from once rare and insignificant malaises to headline-grabbing and deadly outbreaks. Unquestionably, several factors have combined to make this happen. These include a prevailing demand for the convenience of ready-to-eat or heat-and-eat manufactured food products that allow ready entry and survival of some robust, temperature-insensitive microorganisms; a drastic reduction in the costs of air, sea, and road transportation that has taken some pathogenic microorganisms to where they were absent previously; an expanding world population that has stretched the boundary of human activity; and an ageing population whose weakened immune functions provide a fertile ground for opportunistic pathogens to invade and thrive. Given the diversity of causative agents (ranging from viruses, bacteria, yeasts, filamentous fungi, protozoa, helminthes, toxins, to toxic agents), and the ingenuity of pathogenic microbes to evolve through genetic reassortment, horizontal gene transfer, and/or random genetic mutation, it has become an enormous challenge to understand how foodborne agents are able to evade host immune defenses and induce diseases, and also to develop and apply innovative approaches for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of foodborne diseases. Handbook of Foodborne Diseases summarizes the latest findings on more than 100 foodborne diseases and their causative agents. With contributions from international experts on foodborne pathogens, toxins, and toxic agents research, this volume provides state-of-the-art overviews on foodborne diseases in relation to their etiology, biology, epidemiology, clinical presentation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Apart from offering a comprehensive textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students in food, medical, and veterinary microbiology, this volume constitutes a valuable reference on foodborne diseases for medical professionals and health authorities, and forms an informative educational resource for the general public.