ABSTRACT

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.

chapter 1|9 pages

Introductory Remarks

section Section I|2 pages

Foodborne Diseases Due to Viruses

chapter 2|12 pages

Adenovirus

chapter 4|8 pages

Avian Influenza Virus

chapter 5|8 pages

Enterovirus

chapter 6|11 pages

Hepatitis A Virus

chapter 9|21 pages

Human Noroviruses

chapter 11|16 pages

Rotavirus

chapter 14|14 pages

Prions

section Section II|2 pages

Foodborne Diseases Due to Bacteria

chapter 15|8 pages

Bacillus

chapter 19|8 pages

Mycobacterium

chapter 20|8 pages

Staphylococcus

chapter 24|4 pages

Bacteroides

chapter 25|8 pages

Brucella: A Foodborne Pathogen

chapter 28|6 pages

Coxiella

chapter 31|14 pages

Francisella

chapter 32|13 pages

Helicobacter

chapter 34|8 pages

Leptospira

chapter 36|10 pages

Proteus

chapter 38|8 pages

Salmonella

chapter 39|11 pages

Serratia

chapter 41|6 pages

Vibrio

chapter 42|10 pages

Yersinia

section Section III|2 pages

Foodborne Diseases Due to Fungi

chapter 43|12 pages

Candida

chapter 44|8 pages

Debaryomyces

chapter 46|11 pages

Enterocytozoon

chapter 47|6 pages

Mucor and Mucormycosis

section Section IV|2 pages

Foodborne Diseases Due to Parasites

chapter 49|9 pages

Acanthamoeba castellanii

chapter 51|10 pages

Blastocystis

chapter 52|13 pages

Cryptosporidium

chapter 57|12 pages

Giardia

chapter 58|10 pages

Sarcocystis

chapter 63|6 pages

Hymenolepis

chapter 64|6 pages

Spirometra

chapter 65|7 pages

Taenia

chapter 66|14 pages

Clonorchis

chapter 68|7 pages

Fasciola

chapter 70|9 pages

Heterophyes

chapter 71|16 pages

Metagonimus

chapter 73|4 pages

Nanophyetus

chapter 76|13 pages

Angiostrongylus

chapter 77|8 pages

Anisakis

chapter 78|8 pages

Ascaris

chapter 79|7 pages

Eustrongylides

chapter 81|5 pages

Pseudoterranova

chapter 82|7 pages

Toxocara

chapter 83|12 pages

Trichinella

chapter 84|9 pages

Trichuris

section Section V|2 pages

Foodborne Diseases Due to Toxins

chapter 86|7 pages

Ergot Alkaloids

chapter 88|9 pages

3-Nitropropionate

chapter 89|12 pages

Ochratoxins

chapter 91|10 pages

Trichothecenes

chapter 93|7 pages

Amatoxin

chapter 94|7 pages

Brevetoxin

chapter 97|8 pages

Palytoxin

chapter 99|12 pages

Scombrotoxin

chapter 100|12 pages

Tetrodotoxin

chapter 101|7 pages

Cyanogenic Glycosides

chapter 102|7 pages

Grayanotoxins

chapter 103|12 pages

Myristicin

chapter 104|6 pages

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids

chapter 106|6 pages

Taxines

chapter 107|12 pages

Agrochemicals: A Brief Overview

chapter 108|7 pages

Food Additives

chapter 109|10 pages

Phthalates

chapter 110|8 pages

Heavy Metals