Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
important, therefore, that the food industry be vigilant to the need to mod-
ify hygiene programs. Reduced availability and quality of water in food
handling and processing operations will also give rise to new challenges
to hygiene management.
Using the classic epidemiologic triad (host, agent, and environment), it
is clear that climate, whichimpacts all three sectors of the triad, can have
a dramatic effect on infectious disease. This is well documented and even
predictable for some food and waterborne diseases of the developing world
(e.g., bacillary dysentery, cholera) and perhaps less so for the developed
world, where stringent public health measures (sewage disposal, clean
water and hygiene) moderate the risk of diarrheal disease. Evidence of
the impact of climate change on the transmission of food and waterborne
diseases comes from a number of sources, for example, the seasonality of
foodborne and diarrheal disease, changes in disease patterns that occur as
a consequence of temperature, and associations between increased inci-
dence of food and waterborne illness and severe weather events (Hall et
al., 2002; Rose et al., 2001).
18.1.4 SOURCES AND MODES OF TRANSMISSION
The microflora of a food consists of the microorganisms associated with
the raw material, those acquired during handling and processing and those
surviving preservation technique and storage. Bacteria, viruses, and para-
sitic protozoa (BVP) that are pathogenic to humans and frequently con-
taminate the food supply can be subcategorized based on their ultimate
source. They are predominantly associated with fecal matter (animals/hu-
man), on the skin, nose and throat of healthy individuals and in nature.
Based on the above categorization, the general scenarios by which foods
become contaminated with pathogens include:
• contact with human/animal sewage/feces;
• contact with infected food handlers;
• environmental contamination (from air, water, food contact materi-
als, etc.);
• contact with raw foods, etc.
Such contamination can arise along any part of the farm-to-fork con-
tinuum and may arise from any number of sources. Climate constrains
the range of infectious diseases, while weather, which is impacted by cli-
