Vibrio parahaemolyticus is recognized as major cause of foodborne illness of global public health concern. This study collected 107 strains of V. parahaemolyticus during active surveillance of diarrheal diseases in hospitals in Zhoushan during 2013 to 2014 and investigated their serotypes, virulence genes (tdh, trh, and orf8), antimicrobial resistance, and genotypes. The dominant serotypes of t...

An estimated 55 million to 105 million persons in the United States experience acute gastroenteritis caused by foodborne illness each year, resulting in costs of $2-$4 billion annually. Many persons do not seek treatment, resulting in underreporting of the actual number of cases and cost of the illnesses. To prevent foodborne illness, local health departments nationwide license and inspect rest...

background: foodborne botulism (fbb) is a rare paralyzing disease caused by ingestion of foods contaminated with botulinum neurotoxin (bont). it is still a health concern in many countries. this study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of fbb in west azerbaijan province, iran. methods: botulism surveillance data of the health deputy of urmia medical sciences university, northwestern iran was...

Fasciola hepatica (F. hepatica) as a foodborne trematode can occasionally cause hepatobiliary diseases. We report a 67-year-old woman who was referred to our center because of the diagnosis of cholangitis. She was a resident of mountainous area with the history of unsafe water and contaminated vegetables. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was performed as a diagnostic and th...

Listeria monocytogenes, as a foodborne pathogenic bacterium, is considered as major causative agent responsible for serious diseases in both humans and animals. Milk and dairy products are among the main sources of energy supply in the human, therefore contamination of these products with Listeria spp., especially L. monocytogenes, could lead to life threatening infec...

Estimates of the annual numbers of foodborne illnesses and associated hospitalizations and deaths are needed to set priorities for surveillance, prevention, and control strategies. The objective of this study was to determine such estimates for 2008-2013 in France. We considered 15 major foodborne pathogens (10 bacteria, 3 viruses, and 2 parasites) and estimated that each year, the pathogens ac...

With the introduction of the Food Safety Initiative in 1997, food safety activities and research funding have increased dramatically. Advances in microbiological methods and epidemiologic research have provided significant progress in our understanding of foodborne diseases and in our implementation of control programs. This article highlights some of those food safety activities and epidemiolo...

How can one successfully combine working in the clinic with heading a research lab? I am a veterinarian but had lost interest in being a clinical practitioner. Instead, I started to work as a field epidemiologist to clarify the causative agents and routes of foodborne infectious diseases in Osaka City, Japan from 1985 to 1999. Consequently, my research targets always appeared through the invest...

Correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed to: Dr. Leanne E. Unicomb Head, Water and Sanitation Cluster Programme on Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Sciences Health Systems and Infectious Diseases Division ICDDR,B GPO Box 128, Dhaka 1000 Bangladesh Email: [email protected] Fax: +880-2-8811568 Improvements in food safety require initiatives that address risks identified along the ‘f...

This article summarises the existing international structures in Europe which collate data produced by surveillance systems in individual countries. The surveillance of influenza, tuberculosis, and other infections in Europe is undertaken by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Community (EC), and national and international organisations set up to study specific diseases. The surve...