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Food Safety and Principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCPs)
Published in Titus De Silva, Integrating Business Management Processes, 2020
Foodborne biological hazards are microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Most foodborne illnesses are caused by pathogenic bacteria, and microorganisms are commonly associated with humans and with raw products entering the food establishment. Many of them occur in the environment where food is grown. Viruses can be foodborne/waterborne or transmitted by human, animal or other contact. They survive on living cells and cannot replicate in food but can be carried by it. Parasites are host-specific and can include humans in their life cycle. They are present in under-cooked meat products or contaminated ready-to-eat food. Fungi include moulds and yeasts, and some of them are beneficial. Some produce mycotoxins which are toxic to humans and animals (FAO, 1998). The factors that affect the microbial growth in foods are summarised in Table 14.7 (Hamad, 2012).
Reference Sources
Published in Daniela Colombini, Enrico Occhipinti, ERGOCHECK for a Preliminary Mapping of Risk at Work, 2020
Daniela Colombini, Enrico Occhipinti
Transmissibility indicates the micro-organism’s ability to spread within the human population by transmission from infected to healthy susceptible individuals. Transmission may occur by: Direct contact between subjects, one of whom is affected by the disease and the other is healthy, with the physical transfer of the micro-organism from one to another (e.g. diseases transmitted from mother to fetus or sexually transmitted infections).Indirect contact, when a vector or carrier acts as an intermediary host is between the two subjects. Vectors include air, water, but also objects, equipment and devices in common use, if contaminated.By means of vectors that are living creatures that carry micro-organisms and disseminate them into the external environment, through inoculation in the host; example include certain species of ticks and mosquitoes.
Environment-Related Infectious Diseases
Published in Barry L. Johnson, Maureen Y. Lichtveld, Environmental Policy and Public Health, 2017
Barry L. Johnson, Maureen Y. Lichtveld
Zoonotic diseases are caused by a pathogen that is transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans. The vertebrate animal is the pathogen’s “reservoir host” or “intermediate host” in which it can multiply and develop when there is no active transmission to humans. The CDC has adopted the One Health approach presented during the 2012 Global Risk Forum One Health Summit [24]. One Health recognizes the interdependence of human health and that of animals and the environment [25]. Even though the concept of multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder public health cooperation to manage public health threats, food safety, and food security are not new, three global causes have advanced the One Health strategy: (1) over the past 50 years, human populations have grown exponentially and expanded into new habitats, (2) land use practices, such as deforestation and farming, combined with climate change, have disrupted habitat conditions allowing for new human-animal interactions, and (3) the increase of international travel due to globalization allows infectious diseases to quickly spread across the globe [26]. Therefore, public health surveillance, public education on how to handle animals and pets, and treatment and vaccination research are essential to prevent the transmission and control zoonotic diseases.
Testing and surveillance strategies in the context of COVID-19 in India
Published in Indian Chemical Engineer, 2020
Somdatta Karak, Surabhi Srivastava, Rakesh K Mishra
Zoonoses are, thus, a major contributor to the threat of emerging infectious diseases, those that have not been encountered previously. Pathogens for these diseases evolve in ‘reservoir’ hosts, becoming endemic within their populations and causing relatively no harm to these animals. A few key mutations can allow them to infect humans directly, or via ‘intermediate’ hosts. As human activities increasingly overlap and conflict with animal health and well-being, these can then cause explosive and damaging outbreaks in humans, as has been the case in the current situation. Since humans do not have prior exposure and immunity to new pathogens from animals, particularly viruses, they continue to spread until they can be understood well enough to develop therapeutics and vaccines [8]. Such diseases are a serious cause for concern to global health due to their epidemic potential, high case fatality ratio and absence of specific control measures. These factors have contributed to the widespread shutdowns implemented by most countries since the beginning of this pandemic, leading to severe economic losses.