1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910437812103321

Autore

Robertson Lucy J

Titolo

Giardia as a Foodborne Pathogen [[electronic resource] /] / by Lucy J. Robertson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, NY : , : Springer New York : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2013

ISBN

1-4614-7756-5

Edizione

[1st ed. 2013.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (58 p.)

Collana

SpringerBriefs in Food, Health, and Nutrition, , 2197-571X

Disciplina

614.46

615.954

Soggetti

Parasitology

Food—Biotechnology

Food Science

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction to the parasite: biology (including species and genotypes), lifecycle, pathology, treatment -- Transmission routes and factors that lend themselves to foodborne transmission -- Documented foodborne outbreaks -- Approaches to detecting Giardia cysts in different food matrices -- Occurrence of Giardia cysts in different food matrices: results of surveys -- Inactivation or decontamination procedures -- Risk assessment and regulations -- Future challenges -- Conclusions -- References.

Sommario/riassunto

Although widely recognized as an important waterborne pathogen, Giardia duodenalis can also be transmitted by contamination of food. The same properties of this protozoan parasite that mean that water is an excellent transmission vehicle are also important for foodborne transmission. These include the low infective dose, the high number of cysts that are excreted, and the robustness of these transmission stages. However, many more outbreaks of waterborne giardiasis have been reported than foodborne outbreaks. This is probably partly due to epidemiological tracing being much more difficult for foodborne outbreaks than waterborne outbreaks, and the number of persons exposed to infection often being fewer. Nevertheless, the potential importance of foodborne transmission is



gradually being recognized, and a wide range of different foodstuffs have been associated with those outbreaks that have been recorded. Additionally, various factors mean that the potential for foodborne transmission is becoming of increasing importance: these include the growth of international food trade, a current trend for eating raw or very lightly cooked foods, and the rise in small-scale organic farms, where there the possibility for contamination of vegetable crops with animal faeces may be greater.