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Food Poisoning Viruses

problematic foodborne pathogens

Viruses & Foodborne Illness

Viruses are thought to be the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States based on the percentage of people ill, even though there are only a few viruses that are important foodborne pathogens.
Viruses are much smaller than bacteria and cannot live outside a host, such as an animal or the human body. They are not cells but look more like particles (they have a protein coat, not a cell wall); reproducing only when they invade living cells. Although they do not multiply in food products, it can take only a few viral particles to make a person sick. Viruses are easily transferred from one food product to another, from contaminated water to foods, and from infected food handlers to foods. The two most well-known foodborne viruses are Hepatitis A and Norovirus (also known as Norwalk virus). Antibiotic drugs will not help in treatment because antibiotics fight against bacteria not viruses.

Symptoms

Common signs of foodborne illness are upset stomach, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. These can develop in as short of a time as 30 minutes to as long as several days or weeks after consuming contaminated food or water.

Beyond these obvious symptoms, parents and family members often sense when serious illness is developing and should trust their instincts regarding when to seek help. Many describe lethargy, paleness, sleepiness in the hours/days leading up to diagnosis with severe foodborne infection.
More on Symptoms

Causes

Most foodborne poisoning incidents are considered sporadic, not connected to an outbreak, and are most often caused by directly consuming food contaminated with an infectious agent.

Secondary infection can also be caused by coming into contact with another person who is infected. Pathogens can also be contracted by drinking contaminated water.
More on Causes

Diagnosis

It’s imperative that accurate testing be conducted early. If foodborne illness is suspected, your doctor should submit appropriate specimens for laboratory testing.

The most common lab tests are stool cultures which may take several days to render results. These cultures grow bacterial isolates which reveal critical information: which organism is making you sick, what its DNA fingerprint is, and which if any antibiotics can be used to treat your infection.
More on Diagnosis

How Food Gets Contaminated

Contamination of food can happen during any point along the supply chain, which includes:
+ Production
+ Processing
+ Distribution
+ Preparation
Food contamination occurs when a microbial contaminant enters food. Microbial contaminants include bacteria, mold, fungi, viruses, or their toxins/by-products.
More on Contamination

Risk Factors

Food poisoning is more dangerous for some people than others. It’s best to call a doctor for:
+ Adults 60 and older
+ Babies and children
+ Pregnant women
+ People with a chronic illness or compromised immune system
More on Risk Factors

Complications

It’s conservatively estimated that 200,000 Americans develop long-term ailments from food poisoning including illnesses like chronic kidney disease (CKD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), reactive arthritis (Reiter’s Syndrome), Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), insulin-dependent diabetes, seizures, visual disabilities, cognitive and developmental deficits.
More on Complications

Treatment

When you seek medical care for diagnosis and treatment for food poisoning, you will likely enter the system through:
+ your pediatrician
+ your family medicine doctor
+ a hospital emergency room

During this first medical contact, you can expect the following three actions to be taken:
+ oral history
+ physical exam
+ diagnostic testing
More on Treatment

Common Sources

Foodborne illnesses arise from a variety of pathogens, but many cases are linked to foods that were unsanitary and contaminated at their source. If you or your loved one are experiencing the symptoms of foodborne illness, take a moment to review these common sources of infection.

Illnesses can come from a variety of sources, and this list is a good place to start narrowing down possible sources of illness.
More on Common Sources

Prevention

Foodborne illnesses can be prevented by properly storing, cooking, cleaning, and handling foods.

Get in the practice of washing hands, using a meat thermometer for safe internal temperatures, and a fridge and freezer thermometer for safe storage of raw and cooked foods, washing fruits and vegetables, keeping raw meat (and juices) separate from other foods, and cleaning and sanitizing work surfaces and utensils.
More on Prevention

the most common types

Viruses that cause foodborne illness

Norovirus
Hepatitis A
Rotavirus

Real People with real stories

Testimonials

Read their whole story on our Honor Wall

My parents told me that tears would fall down my face and that I would groan in my sleep. My body convulsed in dry heaves, even though I hadn’t eaten in a week, while it desperately tried to rid itself of the poison. I lost 10% of my body weight. I soon discovered that I was one of hundreds of children sickened by Hepatitis A that came from contaminated frozen strawberries served at school. For months after I left the hospital I battled hair loss, fatigue, and had shingles twice. I had constant unexplained back pain. It was all truly horrible.
LindsayHepatitis A
Lindsay
I was one of more than 25 individuals who was sickened by salad at a work-related banquet in a California hotel. My symptoms of nausea, diarrhea, and painful abdominal cramping were so severe that I went to a hospital emergency room for treatment. This hospital visit was just the beginning of an ongoing battle with food poisoning that I am still fighting. The virus-contaminated food caused severe damage to my entire gastrointestinal system ... I have visited area hospitals countless times, been through numerous diagnostic tests that have been invasive, painful, humiliating, and embarrassing
BarbaraNorovirus
Barbara_Dellerson
Linda and I went out for lunch in 2003 expecting to enjoy a nice meal together. Instead, we ended up contracting a foodborne illness that has affected our lives in ways we never could have expected. About two weeks after eating our meals containing imported raw green onions, we both had a severe reaction, one that still affects us even today. The green onions we ate in the salsa were contaminated with the Hepatitis A virus.
Rich and LindaHepatitis A
Rich and Linda

Protect yourself against norovirus

Noroviruses are the leading cause of gastroenteritis and foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States.

Norovirus is highly contagious

Pathogen reference table

Incubation/Onset table

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Covering all 50 US States and Puerto Rico, and ten Canadian provinces and three territories, each recall notice includes the item(s) recalled, the contaminating pathogen, the states and provinces impacted, details about the products, and links to more information.

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Information provided in this section is in the public domain and is provided by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA); US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD);
and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

This information is not meant to be used for self-diagnosis or as a substitute for consultation with a healthcare provider.
If you have any questions about the bacteria described in this section or think that you may have a bacterial infection, please consult a healthcare provider.

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As the voice of people affected by foodborne illness, we collaborate with partners in academia, the food industry, and government to prevent foodborne illness.  We advocate for effective food safety policy and facilitate culture change to increase food safety.

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