ABSTRACT
The reported number of cases of bacterial foodborne poisonings (BFBP) and the deaths they cause worldwide is enormous, both in developing and industrialized countries. In the U.S. alone, each year 76 million foodborne illnesses are reported and 325,000 patients are hospitalized, of which 5000 die. The etiological agent is identified only in 18% of cases, the rest remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed (Mead et al., 1999).
