Foodborne Infectious Diseases Research Articles

From the Editors

From the Editors

Meta-analysis of Campylobacter spp. survival data within a temperature range of 0 to 42°C.

In Europe, Campylobacter is the leading reported cause of bacterial foodborne infectious disease. Quantifying its ability to survive at chilled and ambient temperatures and identifying the factors involved in variation in its survival may contribute to the development of efficient risk management strategies. A data set of 307 inactivation curves collected from the literature and the ComBase database, combined with 388 experimental curves, was analyzed with a log-linear model to obtain 695 D-values (time for 1 log inactivation). An additional 146 D-values collected from the literature or ComBase were added to the data set, for a total of 841 D-values. Because data were collected from different studies, the experimental conditions were somewhat heterogeneous (e.g., type of media or strain used). The full data set was then split into 19 different study types on which a meta-analysis was performed to determine the effect of temperature (range 0 to 42°C), Campylobacter species (C. coli and C. jejuni), and media (liquid media or meat matrix) on the survival ability of Campylobacter. A mixed-effects model, in which the study type and bacterial species were considered as random effects and the media and temperature as fixed effects, was run using a Bayesian approach. Overall, the model gave satisfactory results, with a residual standard deviation of 0.345 (the model response was the log D-value, expressed in days). In addition, the survival of Campylobacter was greater at 0 than at 42°C, with a log-linear pattern; the z-value (temperature to have a 10-fold decrease of D-value) was estimated to be 26.4°C (95 % interval: 23.9 to 29.4°C). Despite a significant media-species interaction term, it was established that both species were more resistant on the meat matrix than in liquid media. These results may be used to understand how Campylobacter can survive along the food chain, particularly in chilled environments, and consequently be transferred to other foodstuffs.

Giardiasis is not uncommon in Taiwan

Giardiasis is an important waterand food-borne infectious disease that causes sporadic diarrhea in travelers and daycare center attendees worldwide. We report a 33-year-old diabetic mother with giardiasis presenting as malnutrition and severe weight loss from 85 kg to 40 kg over 6 months, who had close contact with her mentally impaired son at a sanatorium. The duodenal biopsy confirmed the Giardia trophozoites among the villi and crypts (Fig. 1). The architecture of the duodenal mucosa was well preserved. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of Giardia trophozoites in the duodenal villi. She responded to metronidazole therapy, as her symptoms improved and she regained weight to 50 kg in 24 weeks. As few as 10e25 cysts can cause Giardia infection following the ingestion of cysts from contaminated water or food. Giardia cysts transform into trophozoites in the proximal small bowel, where trophozoites replicate on the mucosal surface and usually do not invade the mucosa. Trophozoites may directly invade or release toxic substances to damage the intestinal epithelium. Trophozoites transform into infectious cysts in the distal small intestine and colon.

A Decision Support Tool to Compare Waterborne and Foodborne Infection and/or Illness Risks Associated with Climate Change

Climate change may impact waterborne and foodborne infectious disease, but to what extent is uncertain. Estimating climate-change-associated relative infection risks from exposure to viruses, bacteria, or parasites in water or food is critical for guiding adaptation measures. We present a computational tool for strategic decision making that describes the behavior of pathogens using location-specific input data under current and projected climate conditions. Pathogen-pathway combinations are available for exposure to norovirus, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, and noncholera Vibrio species via drinking water, bathing water, oysters, or chicken fillets. Infection risk outcomes generated by the tool under current climate conditions correspond with those published in the literature. The tool demonstrates that increasing temperatures lead to increasing risks for infection with Campylobacter from consuming raw/undercooked chicken fillet and for Vibrio from water exposure. Increasing frequencies of drought generally lead to an elevated infection risk of exposure to persistent pathogens such as norovirus and Cryptosporidium, but decreasing risk of exposure to rapidly inactivating pathogens, like Campylobacter. The opposite is the case with increasing annual precipitation; an upsurge of heavy rainfall events leads to more peaks in infection risks in all cases. The interdisciplinary tool presented here can be used to guide climate change adaptation strategies focused on infectious diseases.

Stability and Inhibitory Activity of Pediocin PA-1 Against Listeria sp. in Simulated Physiological Conditions of the Human Terminal Ileum.

Listeria monocytogenes is responsible for severe foodborne infections, which can be life-threatening especially for infants and elderly populations. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has stimulated the search for new strategies, such as the use of bacteriocins, to prevent or cure foodborne infectious diseases in the intestine. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of the bacteriocin pediocin PA-1 from Pediococcus acidilactici UL5 to inhibit Listeria ivanovii, used as a surrogate for L. monocytogenes, under physiological conditions of the terminal ileum, simulated in a continuous in vitro fermentation model. A fecal sample from a healthy adult was immobilized and propagated for 30days in a continuous stirred tank reactor, fed with a nutritive medium simulating the ileal chime (pH 7.5). After reaching a pseudo-steady state, the reactor was inoculated five times with L. ivanovii to reach a final concentration of 10(7) CFU/ml within the reactor. Two spikes of L. ivanovii without adjunction of pediocin PA-1 served as control assays, and three other spikes were done to test the effects of three concentrations of pediocin PA-1 corresponding to 2, 3, and 5× the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) active against L. ivanovii. The concentration of L. ivanovii in the reactor was followed for 8h using the PALCAM selective medium. The different groups of commensal bacteria were enumerated on selective medium or using fluorescence in situ hybridization. Our data showed that pediocin PA-1 is stable in the ileum conditions and that it is able to exert its inhibition activity against L. ivanovii in a dose-dependent manner. The addition of pediocin PA-1 at 5×MIC induced a complete disappearance of L. ivanovii (5 log reduction) within 5h, compared to a reduction of 2 logs, corresponding to the washout phenomenon, when no pediocin PA-1 was added. Reduction of 0.8 and 1.3 logs within 8h was also obtained with the addition of 2 and 3×MIC, respectively. The same experiment has shown that addition of pediocin-PA1 in the reactor had a negligible effect on the balance of commensal bacteria.

On the global stability of a generalized cholera epidemiological model

In this paper, we conduct a careful global stability analysis for a generalized cholera epidemiological model originally proposed in [J. Wang and S. Liao, A generalized cholera model and epidemic/endemic analysis, J. Biol. Dyn. 6 (2012), pp. 568–589]. Cholera is a water- and food-borne infectious disease whose dynamics are complicated by the multiple interactions between the human host, the pathogen, and the environment. Using the geometric approach, we rigorously prove the endemic global stability for the cholera model in three-dimensional (when the pathogen component is a scalar) and four-dimensional (when the pathogen component is a vector) systems. This work unifies the study of global dynamics for several existing deterministic cholera models. The analytical predictions are verified by numerical simulation results.

Epidemic Assistance From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Involving American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1946-2005

The authors describe 169 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemic-assistance investigations involving American Indians and Alaska Natives that occurred during 1946-2005. The unique relation between the US federal government and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes is described in the context of transfer in the 1950s of responsibility for Indian health to the US Public Health Service, which at the time included the Communicable Disease Center, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's precursor. The vast majority of epidemic-assistance investigations were for infectious disease outbreaks (86%), with a relatively limited number, since 1980 only, involving environmental exposures and chronic disease. Although outbreaks investigated were often widespread geographically, the majority were limited in scope, typically involving fewer than 100 patients. Epidemic-assistance investigations for hepatitis A, gastrointestinal and foodborne infectious diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, zoonotic and vectorborne diseases, acute respiratory tract infections, environmental exposures, and chronic diseases are described chronologically in more detail.

A quantitative PCR assay for the detection and quantification of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in minced beef and dairy products

Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are amongst major causes of food-borne infectious diseases and outbreaks. A new quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay was designed to detect all known stx gene subtypes in a single reaction, including the most distant variant stx2f. Performance of this assay was evaluated in combination with two different internal amplification controls (IAC), a competitive one specific for the assay and a universal IAC based on plasmid pUC19. The qPCR assay was 100% specific and showed analytical sensitivity of two STEC genome copies per reaction. The diagnostic approach proposed, combining enrichment, automated DNA extraction and qPCR detection, could reliably detect the presence of STEC in minced beef and cheese inoculated before enrichment at <4 CFU per 25 g. A comparative study performed on 240 minced beef and 113 raw milk cheese samples demonstrated that the method developed was as effective as two PCR screening assays used routinely in our laboratory to detect STEC. The new assay also proved to be appropriate for the direct quantification of STEC in milk and minced meat. It was found to be quantitative over a five log dynamic range, from 4 × 10⁶ to 40 CFU/mL for milk and from 10⁷ to 10² CFU/g for minced beef. In conclusion, the qPCR assay developed here represents a valuable tool for rapid detection and quantification of STEC in foods such as minced beef and dairy products as it ensures a high sensitivity and an optimal STEC diagnostic spectrum, taking into account the genetic stx variability observed in STEC population.

Narrow antagonistic activity of antimicrobial peptide from Bacillus subtilis SCK-2 against Bacillus cereus

Bacillus subtilis SCK-2, producing an antimicrobial peptide of this study, was isolated from Kyeopjang, the Korean traditional fermented-soybean paste. This strain showed a narrow antagonistic activity as it inhibited Bacillus cereus causing food poisoning in human. The antimicrobial peptide, tentatively named AMP IC-1, was purified, characterized, and compared to BSAP-254, another peptide which was previously recovered from traditionally fermented-soybean paste. AMP IC-1 was found to be more thermally stable than BSAP-254, retained inhibitory activity similar to that of BSAP-254 over wide range of pH values, and was also destroyed by proteolytic enzymes. Two compounds were detected by anti-BSAP-254 polyclonal antibody and showed to contain peptide moieties and aliphatic hydrocarbons by Fourier transform infrared analysis. AMP IC-1 had an identical R(f) value (0.69) on TLC plate and a molecular weight similar to that of BSAP-254 (AMP IC-1, m/z 3401; BSAP-254, m/z 3400 to 3473). AMP IC-1 was found to contain about 33 residues and 13 types of amino acids: Cys, Asp or Asn, Glu or Gln, Ser, Gly, Arg, Thr, Ala, Pro, Val, Ile, Leu, and Lys. Compared to BSAP-254, the molar ratios of Asp or Asn, Ser, Val, and Leu were different and only AMP IC-1 contained Arg, but not Trp. Both compounds showed non-hemolytic activity. A partial synergistic effect against B. cereus was observed in response to treatment when AMP IC-1 and BSAP-254 were administered in combination. Therefore, AMP IC-1 is a possible candidate as an antimicrobial agent to prevent food-borne infectious disease in human caused by B. cereus.

From the Editors

Our July 2011 issue focuses on risk perception, food-related risks, event likelihood, and consequences. Sammy Zahran et al. examined the impact of two major U.S. hurricanes on mental health. The authors estimated the increase of what they label “poor mental health days” and economic impacts, which not surprisingly most impacted disadvantaged populations. May Lynn Tan et al. studied fish consumption advisories in California in order to identify what works and does not work. They identified the use of portion sizes that departed from commonly consumed amounts, poorly understood terminology, misleading category headings, and ineffective visual tools. The authors offer practical suggestions for how to increase public understanding. Carmen Keller used an eye tracker apparatus and a risk ladder (low exposure levels and risks are on the bottom and high exposures and risks on the top) to measure how people viewed and understood risk information about smoking, a familiar risk, and radon, a less familiar one. With a sample of 68 individuals, the author examined responses to risk communication methods, observing that grounding the risk comparisons in a familiar risk like smoking helped respondents better understand the less familiar one. Henrik Andersson compared perception of personal auto-related risk of mortality with actual values. Under- and overestimation were related to gender, age, education, and amount traveled. Wim Kellens et al. focused on flood risk perception on the Belgian coast. With a sample of over 600 residents, the authors found that perceptions were associated with actual flood risk, experience with floods, as well as respondent age and gender. Three papers are about food-related risks. Jukka Ranta et al. looked for sources of foodborne infectious disease outbreaks in Finland and Norway. Using campylobacteriosis as an illustration, they point to flaws in the data collection as hindering the development of predictive models, and indeed conclude that simple models are preferred to complicated ones that require data that are not available and have to be estimated. Isabelle Albert et al. used a variety of data sources to estimate the worldwide prevalence and probability of campylobacteriosis. We think you will find that their approach to partitioning and evaluating the data is interesting. Henrik Merkelsen interviewed risk management experts in Denmark in order to understand the role of risk information in food safety decisions. He observed that relationships among experts and their institutions drive what information is valued and communicated rather than the information itself. The last three articles are about likelihood estimates and consequences. Funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Samrat Chatterjee and Mark Abkowitz developed a regional terrorism risk analysis approach that is embedded within the context of other man-made and natural hazards and strongly influenced by the distribution of people and infrastructure. Their goal is to provide context for evaluating benefits of alternative investment strategies across multiple risks in a region, which in this case was the state of Tennessee. John Quigley and Matthew Revie point to the discomfort of estimating a risk likelihood of zero. They used minimax theory to develop alternative estimates, observing that they were able to approximate the results of the maximum likelihood estimate for nonzero data, as well as provide a nonzero estimate when there were no event data. The inoperability input-output model (IIM) allows economic analysts to assess the impact of disaster events in the most stressed economic sectors. Marco Percoco offers an extension of the approach that may make IIM even more useful.

Global stability for cholera epidemic models

Cholera is a water and food borne infectious disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium, Vibrio cholerae. Its dynamics are highly complex owing to the coupling among multiple transmission pathways and different factors in pathogen ecology. Although various mathematical models and clinical studies published in recent years have made important contribution to cholera epidemiology, our knowledge of the disease mechanism remains incomplete at present, largely due to the limited understanding of the dynamics of cholera. In this paper, we conduct global stability analysis for several deterministic cholera epidemic models. These models, incorporating both human population and pathogen V. cholerae concentration, constitute four-dimensional non-linear autonomous systems where the classical Poincaré-Bendixson theory is not applicable. We employ three different techniques, including the monotone dynamical systems, the geometric approach, and Lyapunov functions, to investigate the endemic global stability for several biologically important cases. The analysis and results presented in this paper make building blocks towards a comprehensive study and deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanism in cholera dynamics.

A Bayesian Evidence Synthesis for Estimating Campylobacteriosis Prevalence

Stakeholders making decisions in public health and world trade need improved estimations of the burden-of-illness of foodborne infectious diseases. In this article, we propose a Bayesian meta-analysis or more precisely a Bayesian evidence synthesis to assess the burden-of-illness of campylobacteriosis in France. Using this case study, we investigate campylobacteriosis prevalence, as well as the probabilities of different events that guide the disease pathway, by (i) employing a Bayesian approach on French and foreign human studies (from active surveillance systems, laboratory surveys, physician surveys, epidemiological surveys, and so on) through the chain of events that occur during an episode of illness and (ii) including expert knowledge about this chain of events. We split the target population using an exhaustive and exclusive partition based on health status and the level of disease investigation. We assume an approximate multinomial model over this population partition. Thereby, each observed data set related to the partition brings information on the parameters of the multinomial model, improving burden-of-illness parameter estimates that can be deduced from the parameters of the basic multinomial model. This multinomial model serves as a core model to perform a Bayesian evidence synthesis. Expert knowledge is introduced by way of pseudo-data. The result is a global estimation of the burden-of-illness parameters with their accompanying uncertainty.

Reducing Campylobacter and Salmonella Infection: Two Studies of the Economic Cost and Attitude to Adoption of On‐farm Biosecurity Measures

To date there has been little research in the UK on farmer adoption of biosecurity measures to control food-borne zoonoses that have little or no impact on animal health or production but which threaten public health. Campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis are the two most common causes of food-borne infectious intestinal disease in people in Great Britain, causing approximately 57,000 and 13,000 reported cases in 2007 respectively (Anon 2008a) with an important cost to society. Poultry are an important source of both infections, while pigs may also contribute to human salmonellosis. However, these infections in poultry and pigs seldom cause disease. Research has shown that improved farm biosecurity may reduce the prevalence of these infections in livestock and if the majority of farmers were prepared to enhance biosecurity then there could be an important impact on public health. This article reports on the findings of two studies of farmer attitudes to and cost of the adoption of on-farm biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of animal diseases and therefore enhance food safety. One study, of Campylobacter infection among broiler flocks, is based on a survey of farmers faced with a hypothetical biosecurity intervention, while the other study, of Salmonella infection among pigs, is based on the participation of a group of farmers in an intervention study. In both cases, the results show a clear inverse relationship between the willingness of farmers to adopt a biosecurity measure and its estimated cost. This finding has implications for the success of on-farm biosecurity-enhancement policies based on voluntary adoption by farmers. In particular, financial inducements or penalties to farmers could be necessary to facilitate adoption of these measures.

Food-borne diseases — The challenges of 20 years ago still persist while new ones continue to emerge

The burden of diseases caused by food-borne pathogens remains largely unknown. Importantly data indicating trends in food-borne infectious intestinal disease is limited to a few industrialised countries, and even fewer pathogens. It has been predicted that the importance of diarrhoeal disease, mainly due to contaminated food and water, as a cause of death will decline worldwide. Evidence for such a downward trend is limited. This prediction presumes that improvements in the production and retail of microbiologically safe food will be sustained in the developed world and, moreover, will be rolled out to those countries of the developing world increasingly producing food for a global market. In this review evidence is presented to indicate that the microbiological safety of food remains a dynamic situation heavily influenced by multiple factors along the food chain from farm to fork. Sustaining food safety standards will depend on constant vigilance maintained by monitoring and surveillance but, with the rising importance of other food-related issues, such as food security, obesity and climate change, competition for resources in the future to enable this may be fierce. In addition the pathogen populations relevant to food safety are not static. Food is an excellent vehicle by which many pathogens (bacteria, viruses/prions and parasites) can reach an appropriate colonisation site in a new host. Although food production practices change, the well-recognised food-borne pathogens, such as Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli, seem able to evolve to exploit novel opportunities, for example fresh produce, and even generate new public health challenges, for example antimicrobial resistance. In addition, previously unknown food-borne pathogens, many of which are zoonotic, are constantly emerging. Current understanding of the trends in food-borne diseases for bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens has been reviewed. The bacterial pathogens are exemplified by those well-recognized by policy makers; i.e. Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes. Antimicrobial resistance in several bacterial food-borne pathogens ( Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shigella and Vibrio spp., methicillin resistant Staphylcoccus aureas, E. coli and Enterococci) has been discussed as a separate topic because of its relative importance to policy issues. Awareness and surveillance of viral food-borne pathogens is generally poor but emphasis is placed on Norovirus, Hepatitis A, rotaviruses and newly emerging viruses such as SARS. Many food-borne parasitic pathogens are known (for example Ascaris, Cryptosporidia and Trichinella) but few of these are effectively monitored in foods, livestock and wildlife and their epidemiology through the food-chain is poorly understood. The lessons learned and future challenges in each topic are debated. It is clear that one overall challenge is the generation and maintenance of constructive dialogue and collaboration between public health, veterinary and food safety experts, bringing together multidisciplinary skills and multi-pathogen expertise. Such collaboration is essential to monitor changing trends in the well-recognised diseases and detect emerging pathogens. It will also be necessary understand the multiple interactions these pathogens have with their environments during transmission along the food chain in order to develop effective prevention and control strategies.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Emerging Foodborne Zoonoses

Foodborne infectious diseases sicken millions of Canadians every year, and are a major source of economic costs related to outbreak control, economic losses for food producers and vendors, and productivity costs among sickened individuals. Recent estimates suggest that more than 35 million cases of acute gastroenteritis occur in Canada annually, with an annual cost of more than $3 billion (1); a majority of such illnesses are caused by contaminated food or water. Foodborne infections may also cause severe illness or even death, especially among individuals at the extremes of age and those with impaired immune functions (2). Common foodborne pathogens include commensal flora or pathogens found in animals consumed for food, those found in animal-derived products (eg, Listeria species in cheese and deli meats) (3,4) or those found in produce due to the contamination of fields with animal waste (5). Many foodborne illnesses are reasonably classified as zoonoses, and represent a good exemplar of the importance of the emerging ‘one health’ approach that links human and veterinary disease control efforts (6). Recent challenges in the control of foodborne infectious diseases include centralization and industrialization of farming and food processing (7,8), internationalization of food distribution (9) and the related globalization of cuisines (10). Similar to other infectious diseases, the apparent spectrum of foodborne pathogens has also changed as a result of the improved sensitivity of diagnostic methods, and some diseases that have historically been classed as vector-borne or waterborne are now being identified as transmitted through foods. As Canada emerges as a global hub for immigration, commerce and travel, it becomes increasingly important for Canadian clinicians to be aware of emerging infectious diseases in other geographical locales. In the present note, we describe the clinical features and evolving epidemiology of four emerging foodborne zoonoses.

편육과 브로콜리싹에서 Salmonella spp. 검출을 위한 배지법과 Real-time PCR 및 신속 검사키트(VIDAS(R))의 비교검증

본 연구에서는 편육과 브로콜리 싹에 Salmonella 농도를 단계별로 접종하고 배지법, <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX>, real-time PCR의 양성 검출률을 비교함으로써 <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX>, real-time PCR의 Salmonella 검출력을 검증하였으며, 또한 각 식품별로 검출률에 차이가 있는가를 알아보았다. 편육과 브로콜리 싹(500 g)에 3단계 농도(<15, 15-100, 100-1000 CFU/500 g)를 접종하고 20개 샘플로 나눈 후 배지법, <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX> Salmonella (<TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX> SLM), real-time PCR법을 시행하여 검출능력을 비교하였다. 편육에서 배지법, <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX>, real-time PCR를 이용하여 Salmonella를 검출한 결과, 낮은 접종 농도(<15 CFU/500 g)에서도 Salmonella가 검출되었고 <TEX>$VIDAS^{(가)}$</TEX>O real-time PCR 모두 배지법과 통계학적 유의차가 나타나지 않았다. 반면에 브로콜리 싹을 이용하였을 때 낮은 접종 농도에서는 Salmonella가 검출되지 않았으며 <TEX>$VIDAS^{(가)}$</TEX>O real-time PCR 모두 배지법보다 더 많은 샘플을 검출하였다. 따라서 정상 세균총이 많은 야채 식품의 경우 배지법은 경쟁 세균에 의해 검출이 저해되므로 이보다 영향을 덜 받는 <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX>법이나 real-time PCR법을 이용하여 검출하는 것이 더 효과적이라고 할 수 있겠다. 또한 이러한 신속 진단법을 이용하면 <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX>는 3일, real-time PCR은 1일 이내에 배지법과 같거나 보다 높은 검출률로 Salmonella를 검출할 수 있는 것으로 나타났다. Salmonellosis is an important worldwide foodborne infectious disease that is transmitted by many food vehicles including raw and processed animal products and fresh produce. In this study, the effectiveness of automated ELISA (<TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX>) and realtime PCR in the detection of Salmonella spp. in steamed pork and raw broccoli sprouts was evaluated by comparing their results with those of a conventional culture method. Bulk samples (500 g) of steamed pork and raw broccoli sprouts were inoculated with various levels of Salmonella and divided into 20 samples (25 g each). All the samples, including the controls, were analyzed using a conventional culture method, <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX>, and real-time PCR to detect the presence of Salmonella. In addition, the levels of background flora in the steamed pork and the raw broccoli sprouts were determined. In the steamed pork that contained less than 100 CFU/g of aerobic bacteria, all three methods detected low levels of Salmonella without a statistical difference in their performance. In the broccoli sprouts with high quantities of background flora (ca. <TEX>$6.7{\times}10^7$</TEX> CFU/g), however, all three methods were unable to detect low levels of Salmonella, and real-time PCR and <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX> more sensitively detected Salmonella than the culture method, with significant statistical differences. In conclusion, <TEX>$VIDAS^{(R)}$</TEX> and real-time PCR could be superior to conventional culture methods in detecting Salmonella in food with high levels of background flora.

Climate change and impacts on human health in the Arctic: an international workshop on emerging threats and the response of Arctic communities to climate change

The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment(ACIA) was published in 2005 and was the firstcomprehensive scientific assessment of climatechange in the Arctic (1). Potential direct andindirect health impacts of climate change aredescribed in chapter 15 of this assessment. Direct health effects of climate change will result from changes in ambient temperatures. As the ambient temperature increases, the incidence of hypothermia and associated morbidity and mortality may decrease. Conversely, hyperthermia may increase, particularly among the very young and the elderly. More significantly, unintentional injury, mostly related to extreme events (flooding, storms) and subsistence hunting and fishing — already a significant cause of mortality among Arctic residents — may increase. Indirect effects may include mental and social stress related to loss of community and culture. Changes in migratory patterns and other factors may result in reduced access to traditional foods, which may force Indigenous communities to depend increasingly on non-traditional and often less healthy Western foods. These will most likely result in increasing rates of modern diseases associated with processed foods, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and outbreaks of food-borne infectious diseases associated with imported fresh and processed foods. Other indirect effects include the potential increases in certain food and water-borne infectious diseases related to the damage of the sanitation infrastructure and the potential emergence of other climate sensitive vector-borne infectious diseases.

Report on Evaluation of the Community Reporting system for Food‐borne Outbreaks under Directive 2003/99/EC

EFSA JournalVolume 6, Issue 3 131r Scientific Report of EFSAOpen Access Report on Evaluation of the Community Reporting system for Food-borne Outbreaks under Directive 2003/99/EC European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)Search for more papers by this author European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)Search for more papers by this author First published: 07 March 2008 https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2008.131r Acknowledgement: The contributions of EFSA's contractor, the Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR), and there particularly that of Andrea Gervelmeyer and Michaela Hempen, is gratefully acknowledged. Published date: 7 March 2008 AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat References Report of the Task Force on Zoonoses Data Collection - Manual for Reporting on Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents, Antimicrobial Resistance and Food-borne Outbreaks in the framework of Directive 2003/99/EC and on some other pathogenic microbiological agents for information derived from the reporting year 2006. The EFSA Journal (2007), 100, 1– 86 EFSA's Second Community Summary Report on Trends and Sources of Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents, Antimicrobial resistance and Foodborne outbreaks in the European Union in 2005. The EFSA Journal 2006, 94, pp. 208– 224. Lindqvist, R., Andersson, Y., Lindbäck, J., Wegscheider, M., Eriksson, Y., Tideström, L., Lagerqvist-Widh, A., Hedlund, K.-O., Löfdahl, S., Svensson, L., Norinder, A. A one-year study of food-borne illnesses in the municipality of Uppsala, Sweden. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2001; 7(3) Suppl.: 588– 92. Scott, W.G., Scott, H.M., Lake, R.J., Baker, M.G. Economic cost to New Zealand of food-borne infectious disease. N Z Med J 2000; 113: 281– 4. Todd, E.C.D. Cost of acute bacterial food-borne disease in Canada and the United States. Int J Food Microbiol 1989; 9: 313– 26. O'Brien, S.J., Elson, R., Gillespie, C., Adak, G.K.I.A., Cowden, J.M. Surveillance of foodborne outbreaks of infectious disease in England and Wales 1992 – 1999: contributing to evidence-based food policy? Public Health 2002; 116, 75– 80. O'Brien, S.J., Gillespie, I.A., Sivanesan, M.A., Elson, R., Hughes, C., Adak, G.K. Publication bias in foodborne outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease and its implications for evidence-based food policy. Epidemiol. Infect. 2006; 134, 667– 674. Volume6, Issue3March 2008131r ReferencesRelatedInformation

Application of bacteriophages for detection and control of foodborne pathogens

The incidence of foodborne infectious diseases is stable or has even increased in many countries. Consequently, our awareness regarding hygiene measures in food production has also increased dramatically over the last decades. However, even today's modern production techniques and intensive food-monitoring programs have not been able to effectively control the problem. At the same time, increased production volumes are distributed to more consumers, and if contaminated, potentially cause mass epidemics. Accordingly, research directed to improve food safety has also been taken forward, also exploring novel methods and technologies. Such an approach is represented by the use of bacteriophage for specific killing of unwanted bacteria. The extreme specificity of phages renders them ideal candidates for applications designed to increase food safety during the production process. Phages are the natural enemies of bacteria, and can be used for biocontrol of bacteria without interfering with the natural microflora or the cultures in fermented products. Moreover, phages or phage-derived proteins can also be used to detect the presence of unwanted pathogens in food or the production environments, which allows quick and specific identification of viable cells. This review intends to briefly summarize and explain the principles and current standing of these approaches.

&lt;i&gt;Listeria monocytogenes&lt;/i&gt;: the nature, public health aspects and retrospective situations of an emerging infectious pathogen in Nigerian

New food borne infectious diseases have continued to emerge world over in the food industries. Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular bacterium has become an emerging food borne pathogen that causes listeriosis; a zoonotic disease, posing serious risks to public health; in livestock industries, pregnant mothers, neonates and in immunocompromised individuals. Organ of asymptomatic carriers and infected hosts (human, animals and birds) serve as reservoirs of the pathogen from where they spread and infect other susceptible hosts. L. monocytogenes in food contamination may occur in the farm or during food processing, handling and packaging due to poor quality control measures. The molecular and genetic factors on the part of the pathogen may be responsible for its pathogenesis in susceptible individuals. Its' public health importance cannot be over emphasized as L. monocytogenes causes huge economic loss to livestock industries, abortion in pregnant mothers and animals, food poisoning which may lead to death in infected individuals. It is therefore, suggested that proper control strategies, good quality control practices and adequate prevention measures be put in place for effective prevent and control of food borne listeriosis in health, agriculture and environmental systems in Nigeria. Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 2(2) 2006: 86-93