Download Common Mircoorganisms found in Foods List of Microorganisms

Common Mircoorganisms found in Foods
List of Microorganisms
Shigella sonnei
( sha-gell-ah sahn-ee-eye )
Nickname: Shigella
Morphology: Gram-negative rod
Habitat: Humans and other large primates are the only carriers of this bacteria.
Disease or illness: Even a small number of these bacteria can make a person very sick. Shigella causes severe diarrhea with
blood and pus in the stools.
Who is at risk: Any person who allows the bacteria to enter their body by eating contaminated food or drinking
contaminated water.
Avoidance techniques: Wash hands frequently, especially after using the toilet, after changing diapers, and before preparing
foods or beverages; persons with diarrhea should not prepare food for others; avoid drinking swimming pool water.
"To the toilet you'll run, when I have my fun"
Hepatitis A Virus
( hep-uh-tie-tis A vi-rus )
Nickname: Hep A or HAV
Signs & Symptoms: The infection may vary from a mild flu-like illness to serious liver disease. It may take several months to
recover from this infection.
Spread: HAV is spread by personal contact with an infected person especially fecal-oral transmission. Fecal contamination of
food or water, poor sanitary conditions and poor personal hygiene contribute to the spread of HAV.
Who is at risk: Any person who eats food or drinks water contaminated with the virus
Prevention: A safe and effective vaccine is now available. It is especially recommended for children and for people traveling
to under-developed countries. Always practice good hand washing especially after using the toilet.
"I'm spread by poor hygiene, but now there's a vaccine"
Staphylococcus aureus
( staf-ih-low-cock-us aw-ree-us )
Nickname: Staph aureus
Morphology: Gram-positive cocci in grape-like clusters
Habitat: Lives on the human body, especially on the skin and in the nose; it also lives on animals.
Disease or illness: Can cause a variety of infections like pimples, boils, impetigo, food poisoning, toxic shock syndrome, blood
infections (septicemia) and bone infections (osteomyelitis)
Who is at risk: Even healthy people with cuts, wounds or breaks in the skin; more serious risk to persons with a weak
immune system
Avoidance techniques: Keep skin clean with regular bathing; wash cuts and wounds before bandaging; practice good hand
washing and good personal hygiene especially after playing with pets, and before handling food; refrigerate food and avoid
contamination.
"I'm OK on your skin, but don't let me get in"
Norovirus
(nor-oh-vi-rus )
Virus name: Norovirusor Norwalk-like virus
Signs & Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, low-grade fever & chills. Illness lasts for 12-60 hours.
Causes severe dehydration that can be fatal, especially in young children and elderly persons
Spread: This infection occurs after eating contaminated water or food, especially shellfish, or touching contaminated surfaces
or objects. Norovirus outbreaks are most common in nursing homes, schools and daycare centers, restaurants and cruise ships
Who is at risk: Any person who comes in contact with the virus. A very small number of the virus can cause serious infection.
The virus is shed from an infection person for a long time after the symptoms disappear. Repeated infections can occur
throughout a lifetime.
Prevention: Frequent and thorough hand washing with soap and water, especially before eating or preparing food; proper
handling of linens and clothing soiled with feces or vomit; clean soiled surfaces with an appropriate disinfectant such as a 10%
solution of bleach. Stay home until you are completely recovered from a bout with vomiting and/or diarrhea.
“Let me tell you what I do, I act just like the stomach flu.”
1
Listeria monocytogenes
( lis-tear-ee-uh mon-oh-cy-tog-en-eez )
Nickname: Listeria
Morphology: Tiny gram-positive rod
Habitat: Lives in cold, moist environments - even in the refrigerator, where you think your food is safe
Disease or illness: Causes only a minor flu-like illness in adults but is dangerous to pregnant women because it can be passed
on to the unborn baby and cause a very serious disease in the baby
Who is at risk: Pregnant women and their unborn babies
Avoidance techniques: Heat ready-to-eat processed meats (lunch meat) before eating and Listeria will be killed.
"I'm no fool, I grow where it's cool"
Salmonella enteritidis
( sal-mon-nell-ah en-ter-rit-ih-dis )
Nickname: Salmonella
Morphology: Gram-negative rod
Habitat: Lives naturally in animals; infection in humans is usually linked to foods of animal origin or to direct contact with
animals or contaminated water.
Disease or illness: Causes intestinal infections with diarrhea, fever, and severe stomach cramps
Who is at risk: Anyone who eats food or drinks water contaminated with the bacteria is at risk. Infants,the elderly, or persons
with a weakened immune system are at increased risk.
Avoidance techniques: Wash hands after handling animals and playing with pets. Cook meat, poultry, and eggs thoroughly
(eggs should be cooked until yokes do not run); wash knives and cutting surfaces with hot soapy water after cutting raw
poultry; store food in the refrigerator; wash hands before and after handling raw poultry; drink only pasteurized milk.
"Cook your chicken or I'll make you a sick 'un"
Clostridium botulinum
( klos-trid-ee-um bot-chew-lie-num )
Nickname: C. botulinum
Morphology: Gram-positive spore-forming rod
Habitat: Lives primarily in soil and is also found on plants and the outside covering of fish and animals
Disease or illness: It causes foodborne botulism which results when the toxins produced by this bacteria are eaten with
food. The toxins are extremely potent and a very small amount can cause paralysis or death.
Signs & Symptoms: include weakness, paralysis, double vision, impaired speech and difficulty swallowing. Infant botulism
can occur from eating honey which is contaminated with the spores. Wound botulism may result when dirty wounds (like
from a car accident) become contaminated with the spores.
Who is at risk: Any person who eats the botulism toxin or allows entry of the spores into the body.
Avoidance techniques: Use caution when eating home-canned vegetables, home-cured meats, fermented fish, and other
preserved foods. Do not feed honey to infants under the age of one year. Get proper medical care for severe wounds that are
contaminated with soil.
"If your canned green beans aren't sterilized, I can make you paralyzed. So if the can is bulging, don't be indulging."
Escherichia coli O157:H7
( ee-sure-eek-ee-uh koh-lie O157:H7 )
Nickname: E. coli O157:H7 or Beef Grief
Morphology: Gram-negative rod
Habitat: Lives in the intestines of dairy and beef cattle; can contaminate human food either directly in fields or during food
processing
Disease or illness: It causes severe intestinal infection with bloody diarrhea. The toxins produced by these bacteria can also
cause severe kidney problems.
Who is at risk: Anyone who eats contaminated food; the disease is most severe in children
Avoidance techniques: Cook beef to 160° F; wash all produce before eating it raw; drink only pasteurized milk and
apple cider; wash hands before preparing food.
"On spinach leaf, or undercooked ground beef, I can cause children a world of grief."
2
Campylobacter jejuni
( kamp-ih-low-back-ter jah-jun-ee )
Nickname: Campy
Morphology: Curved gram-negative rod
Habitat: Lives in the intestinal tract of animals, especially chickens. Campy is quite sensitive to conditions of the environment
like drying, heating, and the amount of oxygen in the air.
Disease or illness: It is a common cause of diarrhea.
Who is at risk: Anyone and everyone who eats contaminated food
Avoidance techniques: Use good kitchen hygiene; cook meat and poultry properly; drink only pasteurized milk and drink
only chlorinated or filtered water when you are camping.
"If I camp out in your guts, I'll drive you nuts"
Clostridium perfringens
Nickname:
Habitat: found in certain bacteria, plants or other living organisms that can be poisonous to other organisms.
Signs & Symptoms: Crampy stomach pain followed by diarrhea may begin 6 to 24 hours after eating contaminated food.
Nausea is common, but fever and vomiting usually are not symptoms.
Spread: it cannot be spread from person to person and they do not grow or increase in number in the body. They can be
produced from bacteria found everywhere in the environment
Who is @ risk: any age
Disease or illness: . They are most commonly associated with food poisoning, which can happen when a. People swallow a
large amount of the bacteria, which then multiply and produce toxin in the intestine; or b. People eat contaminated food with
the toxin already in it.
Diagnosis: doctor usually suspects the diagnosis when a local outbreak of the disease has occurred. The diagnosis is
confirmed by testing contaminated food or the stool of affected people for Clostridium perfringens.
Avoidance: To prevent infection, leftover cooked meat should be refrigerated promptly and reheated thoroughly before
serving
Yersinia enterocolitica
Nickname:
Signs & Symptoms: Symptoms typically develop 4 to 7 days after exposure and may last 1 to 3 weeks or longer.
Spread: most often acquired by eating contaminated food, especially raw or undercooked pork products. The preparation of
raw pork intestines (chitterlings) may be particularly risky. Infants can be infected if their caretakers handle raw chitterlings
and then do not adequately clean their hands before handling the infant or the infant’s toys, bottles, or pacifiers. Drinking
contaminated unpasteurized milk or untreated water can also transmit the infection.
Who is @ risk: People who eat undercooked pork & infants.
Disease or illness: found in many other animals including rodents, rabbits, sheep, cattle, horses, dogs, and cats. In pigs, the
bacteria are most likely to be found on the tonsils.
Avoidance: 1. Avoid eating raw or undercooked pork. 2. Consume only pasteurized milk or milk products. 3. Wash hands with
soap and water before eating and preparing food, after contact with animals, and after handling raw meat. 4. After handling
raw chitterlings, clean hands and fingernails scrupulously with soap and water before touching infants or their toys, bottles, or
pacifiers. Someone other than the foodhandler should care for children while chitterlings are being prepared. 5. Prevent crosscontamination in the kitchen: -Use separate cutting boards for meat and other foods. -Carefully clean all cutting boards,
counter-tops, and utensils with soap and hot water after preparing raw meat. 6. Dispose of animal feces in a sanitary manner.
Bacillus cereus
Nickname:
Signs & Symptoms: severe nausea, vomiting, & diarrhea. It has an 8-16.5 hour incubation period for the diarrheal version of
illness & a 5-6 hour incubation for the abdomninal cramping verions. Duration of symptoms is generally less than 24 hours.
Habitat: found in foods including meats, milk, vegetables, and fish have been associated with the diarrheal type food
poisoning. The vomiting-type outbreaks have generally been associated with rice products; however, other starchy foods such
as potato, pasta and cheese products have also been implicated.
Spread: improper heating of foods & improper refrigeration
Who is @ risk: Everyone
Disease or illness: Soil dwelling bacillus that has some strains that can cause food illness & other strains act as a probiotic for
animals to prevent Salmonella & Camplobacter.
Avoidance: properly heat foods & refrigeration
3
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
Nickname:
Signs & Symptoms: causes watery diarrhea often with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills. Usually these
symptoms occur within 24 hours of ingestion. Illness is usually self-limited and lasts 3 days. Severe disease is rare and occurs
more commonly in persons with weakened immune systems.
Spread: Most people become infected by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters. Less commonly, this
organism can cause an infection in the skin when an open wound is exposed to warm seawater.
Who is @ risk: anyone who eats raw seafood & has an open wound & goes into warm seawater.
Disease or illness: Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It lives in brackish
saltwater and causes gastrointestinal illness in humans.
Avoidance: can be prevented by thoroughly cooking seafood, especially oysters. Wound infections can be prevented by
avoiding exposure of open wounds to warm seawater.
4