ABSTRACT
This chapter provides state-of-the-art overviews on foodborne diseases caused by Bacteroides in relation to their etiology, biology, epidemiology, clinical presentation, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. The genus Bacteroides covers a large number of strictly anaerobic or aerotolerant species that represent the most important components of the human resident intestinal microbiota. Bacteroides species living in the intestinal tract appear to be involved in processing complex molecules into simpler compounds that are used as nutrients by a human host as well as resident microbiota. Bacteroides spp. may cause opportunistic infections when a normal barrier is damaged, injured, or diseased. Body sites displaying tissue destruction or necrosis due to poor blood supply are low in oxygen, and this condition favors the growth of anaerobic bacteria such as Bacteroides. A dysbiosis produced by the resident intestinal microorganisms in the gastrointestinal ecosystem can lead to endogenous infections, such as periodontal diseases, lung and brain infections, urinary or genital infections, intraabdominal abscesses, and colon cancer.
