Viral food infections

Overview

Viral infections are food-borne infection caused by ingestion of food containing viruses that can survive in the gut and attack is the intestinal flora (the case of bacteriophages), or cells from humans (in the case of animal viruses).

Pathogenic viruses

The pathogenicity of viruses is due to their characteristic parasitic living cells.

A viral infection can lead to the death of the host cell by lysis, or to its transformation into a cell unable to control its proliferation and finally to recovery and healing of the total cells infected. When cells infected abdicate their duties, then the body becomes infected patient.

The virus responsible for food-borne infections are either bacteriophages or virus-specific infectious animal cells. These viruses must be able to survive the digestive enzymes in stomach acid and bile from the duodenum.

Bacteriophages attack the intestinal flora and cause disturbances more or less serious and are found in foods that support a large number of bacteria-host. While animal viruses attack the intestinal cells, can sometimes pass through the intestinal epithelium and infect other organs such as liver.

Major viral infections

Viral infections from food are identified viral hepatitis A, polio, Bolivian hemorrhagic fever and encephalitis Russian.

Viral hepatitis A viral infection is food-borne widespread. The incubation period is 15 to 50 days with an average of 28 days. Symptoms include fever and enlargement of the liver becomes tender, jaundice is common but not always, anorexia, nausea and vomiting are often observed. Symptoms often disappear after 2 to 4 weeks, but the patient remains low for a long time.

Responsible food

The main cause of viral infections is the water contamination from sewage. Bivalves, which feed by filtering water and concentrated the virus in their intestines, are also a source of viral infections, especially when eaten raw.

In the case of viral hepatitis A, the foods most often involved are the bivalve molluscs (oysters, mussels, ...), water and vegetables. Other foods can also be caused by hepatitis A. These include most salads and food preparations that are not cooked before consumption and which have been contaminated by a carrier.

Preventive measures

The virus can survive for a long time (several weeks to several months) in food or inert elements. Moreover, they survive refrigeration and freezing. But they do not survive pasteurization or in the drinking water made by chlorination.

Prevention and control of viral infections through:

• preventing contamination of food and water from domestic effluent;
• disinfection of water intended for human consumption;
• banning fishing in polluted waters;
• purification of bivalve in the parking stall for bivalve using water disinfected (by chlorination, ozone or ultraviolet radiation);
• the strict application of rules of hygiene and
• pasteurization of food.