Risk management week 4

• Viruses that cause foodborne diseases differ from foodborne bacteria in several ways:
• Viruses are much smaller than bacteria
• Viruses require a living host (human, animal) to survive
• Viruses do not multiply in foods
• A susceptible person only needs to consume a few viral particles to experience infection
• Viruses are usually transferred from one food to another, from a food worker to a food, or from a contaminated water supply to a food
• Potentially hazardous food is not needed to support the survival of viruses
• Four viruses of primary importance to food establishments are:
• Hepatitis-A virus
• Norwalk virus
• Rotavirus
• COVID virus
• Hepatitis-A virus:
• Associated with many foodborne infections
• Causes a liver disease called infectious hepatitis
• Infected food workers can harbor the virus for 6 weeks without showing symptoms
• Symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and fatigue
• Commonly found in raw and lightly cooked oysters, clams, and vegetables irrigated or washed with polluted water
• Transmitted by ingestion of food and water containing the virus
• Prevention includes handling foods properly, cooking to recommended temperatures, avoiding raw seafood, and practicing good personal hygiene
• Norwalk virus:
• Causes gastroenteritis primarily in adults and older children
• Commonly found in sewage-contaminated water, seafood, salad ingredients, and raw clams and oysters
• Prevention includes using safe drinking water, avoiding raw seafood, and practicing good personal hygiene
• Transmitted by ingestion of contaminated food and water
• Symptoms include vomiting, watery diarrhea, and low-grade fever
• Rotavirus:
• Causes severe diarrhea among infants and children
• Prevention includes washing hands thoroughly and handling food carefully to avoid cross-contamination
• Transmitted person-to-person through contaminated hands and fecal-oral route
• Commonly found in sewage, contaminated water, salad ingredients, and raw seafood
• Parasites are small or microscopic creatures that need to live on or inside a living host to survive
• Parasitic infection is less common than bacterial or viral foodborne illnesses
• Foodborne illness caused by parasites:
• Anisakis Nematodes in Fish and Shellfish:
• Associated with foodborne infection from fish
• Symptoms include coughing and vomiting
• Commonly found in raw or undercooked seafood like cod, haddock, salmon, and shrimp
• Transmitted by accidental ingestion of fish infected with the parasites
• Prevention includes cooking fish properly and buying from reliable sources