ABSTRACT
Infections caused by foodborne bacterial pathogens continue to be a major public health issue around the world. The ingestion of pathogenic and virulent microorganisms generally results in foodborne illnesses affecting population in both developed and developing countries (WHO 2003). Though the global incidence of foodborne disease is diffi cult to estimate, it has been reported that in 2005 alone 1.8 million people died from diarrhoeal diseases and a great proportion of these cases can be attributed to contamination of food and drinking water (WHO 2007). The burden of diseases caused by food-borne pathogens remains largely unknown and are substantially underestimated, particularly in developing countries whereas there are several reported outbreaks of foodborne illnesses from industrialized countries. It was estimated that each year, major known pathogens acquired in the United States caused 9.4 million episodes of foodborne illness, resulting in 55,961 cases of hospitalization and 1,351 deaths. (Scallan et al. 2011). Bacteria are the causative agents of foodborne illness in 60% of cases requiring hospitalization (Mead et al. 1999). A variety of bacterial pathogens transmitted by food and water, including Campylobacter spp., Clostridium perfringes, Cryptosporidium spp., Legionella spp., and Shigella spp. and various serotypes of Salmonella enterica can infect humans (Tauxe et al. 2010). Shigella is the third most common pathogen transmitted through food. In FoodNet surveillance areas in 2008, the rate of Shigella food poisoning was 6.6 per 100,000 population, exceeded only by Salmonella (15.2/100,000) and Campylobacter (12.7/100,000) (CDC 2009).
