• Staphylococcus aureus

  Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of bacterial foodborne disease worldwide. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea that occur shortly after ingestion of S. aureus-contaminated food. The symptoms arise from ingestion of preformed enterotoxin, which accounts for the short incubation time. Staphylococcal enterotoxins are superantigens and, as such, have adverse effects on the immune system. The enterotoxin genes are accessory genetic elements in S. aureus, meaning that not all strains of this organism are enterotoxin-producing. The enterotoxin genes are found on prophage, plasmids, and pathogenicity islands in different strains of S. aureus.

• Salmonella

  Infections are commonly acquired by animal to human transmission though consumption of undercooked food products derived from livestock or domestic fowl.

• Shigella

  Shigella species are members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and are Gram negative, non-motile rods. Symptoms include mild to severe diarrhea with or without blood, fever, tenesmus, and abdominal pain. Further complications of the disease may be seizures, toxic megacolon, reactive arthritis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Transmission of the pathogen is by the fecal-oral route, commonly through food and water. The infectious dose ranges from 10-100 organisms.

• Escherichia coli

  E. coli was considered a commensal of human and animal intestinal tracts with low virulence potential. It is now known that many strains of E. coli act as pathogens inducing serious gastrointestinal diseases and even death in humans.

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