Food-borne protozoa

Molecular identification of food-borne and water-borne protozoa.

Cryptosporidium and Giardia can be transmitted to humans by contaminated food and water, resulting in large outbreaks of diarrheal disease. Sensitive methods for detecting these parasites are needed to control and prevent infection. However, this issue is complicated by the fact that there is still uncertainty about the role played by different species/genotypes with respect to human disease. W...

Interactions between food-borne pathogens and protozoa isolated from lettuce and spinach.

The survival of Salmonella enterica was recently shown to increase when the bacteria were sequestered in expelled food vacuoles (vesicles) of Tetrahymena. Because fresh produce is increasingly linked to outbreaks of enteric illness, the present investigation aimed to determine the prevalence of protozoa on spinach and lettuce and to examine their interactions with S. enterica, Escherichia coli ...

Parasitic food-borne and water-borne zoonoses.

Estimates suggest that almost half of the population of the world is affected by water-borne and food-borne infections. Parasitic food-borne and water-borne zoonoses contribute to this statistic by inflicting a heavy toll on human health and causing serious direct and indirect losses to the agricultural industry. The inability of non-industrialised countries to keep pace with population growth,...

Food-borne Pathogens

Emerging food-borne zoonoses.

Diarrhoeal diseases, almost all of which are caused by food-borne or waterborne microbial pathogens, are leading causes of illness and death in less developed countries, killing an estimated 1.9 million people annually at the global level. Even in developed countries, it is estimated that up to one third of the population are affected by microbiological food-borne diseases each year. The majori...