Chapter 8: Non-bacterial Agents of Foodborne Illness

Although bacteria often loom large in public perception, they are not the only microbial source of foodborne illness. Parasitic helminths, such as liver flukes and tapeworms, are a serious problem in some parts of the world and the effects of pathogenic protozoa and toxigenic algae also have a considerable human and economic cost. The same is true of eating of toxic fungi or foods contaminated with the mycotoxins produced by species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium and others. Enteric viruses transmitted by food, such as polio, hepatitis A and E and gastroenteritis, such as norovirus, are an increasing problem. They can cause large outbreaks of foodborne illness and are difficult to control. Novel agents such as prions can also be transmitted by food and the outbreak of new-variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, centred largely on the UK at the end of the 20th century, is also described and discussed.