Alert: Food pathogens-Salmolnella

Salmonella were discovered by an American scientist named Salmon, for whom they are named.S. is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria. They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction reactions using organic sources, and are facultative anaerobes.Two serotypes, Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium are the most common in the United States and account for half of all human infections.If present in food, it does not usually affect the taste, smell, or appearance of the food. The bacteria live in the intestinal tracts of infected animals and humans.


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), salmonellosis causes an estimated 1.4 million cases of foodborne illness and more than 400 deaths annually in the United States.


Symptoms: diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 8 to 72 hours. Additional symptoms may be chills, headache, nausea, and vomiting.Symptoms usually disappear within 4 to 7 days. Many people with salmonellosis recover without treatment and may never see a doctor. However, Salmonella infections can be life-threatening especially for infants and young children, pregnant women and their unborn babies, and older adults, who are at a higher risk for foodborne illness, as are people with weakened immune systems (such as those with HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, and transplant patients). A small number of persons who are infected with Salmonella may develop pains in their joints, irritation of the eyes, and painful urination (Reiter's syndrome). 


Salmonellosis: Salmonella is usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces.Salmonella present on raw meat and poultry could survive if the product is not cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature, as measured with a food thermometer. Cross-contamination. Reptiles are particularly likely to harborSalmonella. People should always wash their hands immediately after handling a reptile.
Foods: Any raw food of animal origin, such as meat, poultry, milk and dairy products, eggs, seafood, and some fruits and vegetables 9from cross-contamination).
Guidelines: 

• Wash Hands (20 seconds) and Surfaces Often
• Don't Cross-contaminate (use separate cutting boards for produce and meats, wash surfaces that had any raw meat contacts) 
• Cook to Safe Temperatures (Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops to 145 °F, Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops to 145 °F, Ground beef, veal and lamb to 160 °F, Egg dishes, casseroles to 160 °F, Fish should reach 145 °F)
• Refrigerate Promptly (Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods, and leftovers within 2 hours, Freezers should register 0 °F or below and refrigerators 40 °F or below.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service is the public health regulatory Agency in the USDA responsible for the safety of the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry and egg products. As part of this responsibility, FSIS issued the "Pathogen Reduction; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (PR/HACCP) Systems, Final Rule" in 1996.
FSIS inspectors make sure the establishments are meeting the standards by collecting randomly selected product samples and submitting them to an FSIS laboratory forSalmonella analysis. FSIS requires all plants to reduce bacteria by means of the PR/HACCP system. 

Programs/Organizations
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Emerging Infections Program (EPI)
Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
References
CDC
Wikipedia

Alert: Food pathogens

The top five illness-causing pathogens -- Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Toxoplasma gondii and norovirus -- cause $12.7 billion in economic losses each year according to the report Issued by the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute. Poultry contaminated with Campylobacter bacteria is the food-pathogen combination that causes the most foodborne illness in the United States, sickening more than 600,000 people a year at a cost of $1.3 billion.The economic cost takes into account lost productivity, medical care and serious complications or chronic disabilities associated with the illness.Salmonella as the leading disease-causing microorganism (costing more than $3 billion a year), and Salmonella-contaminated produce, poultry, eggs and multi-ingredient foods all rank in the top 10 food-pathogen combinations.
Lets study the top 5 pathogens to keep ourselves and our family safe. It is important to be aware of the risk, since the availability of food has reached its pick, but yet the production and safety has become a serious problem that may stop some of from eating out or alert our eating habits.
Campylobacter-is a genus of bacteria that are Gram-negative, spiral, and microaerophilic(requires lower levels of oxygen to survive).The common routes of transmission are fecal-oral, ingestion of contaminated food or water, and the eating of raw meat.It produces an inflammatory, sometimes bloody, diarrhea, periodontitis[8] or dysentery syndrome, mostly including cramps, fever and pain.The sites of tissue injury include the jejunum, the ileum, and the colon.Most strains of C jejuni produce a toxin that hinders the cells from dividing and activating the immune system.This helps the bacteria to evade the immune system and survive for a limited time in the cells.Treatment:Generally there is little treatment apart from rest and keeping up fluid intake; Sometimes antibiotics will be prescribed; Dehydrated children may require intravenous (by vein) fluid treatment in hospital; The illness is contagious and children must be kept at home; Good hygiene is important.