(Food Microbiology) 1st Edition
by Dongyou Liu (Editor)
Clearly linked to consumption of
foods, beverages, and drinking water that contain pathogenic microbes,
toxins, or other toxic agents, foodborne diseases have undergone a
remarkable change of fortune in recent decades, from once rare and
insignificant malaises to headline-grabbing and deadly outbreaks.
Unquestionably, several factors have combined to make this happen. These
include a prevailing demand for the convenience of ready-to-eat or
heat-and-eat manufactured food products that allow ready entry and
survival of some robust, temperature-insensitive microorganisms; a
drastic reduction in the costs of air, sea, and road transportation that
has taken some pathogenic microorganisms to where they were absent
previously; an expanding world population that has stretched the
boundary of human activity; and an ageing population whose weakened
immune functions provide a fertile ground for opportunistic pathogens to
invade and thrive.
Given the diversity of causative agents
(ranging from viruses, bacteria, yeasts, filamentous fungi, protozoa,
helminthes, toxins, to toxic agents), and the ingenuity of pathogenic
microbes to evolve through genetic reassortment, horizontal gene
transfer, and/or random genetic mutation, it has become an enormous
challenge to understand how foodborne agents are able to evade host
immune defenses and induce diseases, and also to develop and apply
innovative approaches for improved diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
of foodborne diseases.
Handbook of Foodborne Diseases
summarizes the latest findings on more than 100 foodborne diseases and
their causative agents. With contributions from international experts on
foodborne pathogens, toxins, and toxic agents research, this volume
provides state-of-the-art overviews on foodborne diseases in relation to
their etiology, biology, epidemiology, clinical presentation,
pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Apart from offering a
comprehensive textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students in
food, medical, and veterinary microbiology, this volume constitutes a
valuable reference on foodborne diseases for medical professionals and
health authorities, and forms an informative educational resource for
the general public.
