BACTERIA
|
WHERE FOUND
|
SOURCE
|
SYMPTOMS
|
| Campylobacter |
Intestinal tracts
of animals, raw milk, untreated water, and sewage. |
Contaminated water, raw milk, and raw or undercooked meat, poultry,
or shellfish. |
Fever, headache and muscle
pain followed by diarrhea, abdominal pain, and nausea that appear
2 to 5 days after eating; may last 7 to 10 days. |
|
Botulism
|
Widely distributed in soil,
water, on plants, and intestinal tracts of animals. Grows only in
little or no oxygen. |
Bacteria produce a toxin that causes illness. Improperly
canned foods, garlic in oil, vacuum-packed and tightly wrapped food. |
Toxin affects the nervous system. Symptoms
usually appear 18 to 36 hours, but can sometimes appear as few
as 4 hours or as many as 8 days after eating; double vision, droopy
eyelids, trouble speaking and swallowing, and difficulty breathing.
Fatal in 3 to 10 days if not treated.
|
| Clostridium |
Soil, dust, sewage, and
intestinal tracts of animals. Grows only in little or no oxygen.
|
Food left for long periods in steam tables or at room
temperature. Bacteria destroyed by cooking, but some toxin-producing
spores may survive.
|
Diarrhea and gas pains may appear 8
to 24 hours after eating; usually last about 1 day, but less severe
symptoms may persist for 1 to 2 weeks.
|
| E. coli
|
Intestinal tracts of some
mammals, raw milk and unchlorinated water. |
Contaminated water, raw milk, raw or rare ground beef,
unpasteurized apple juice or cider, uncooked fruits and vegetables;
person-to-person.
|
Diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal
cramps, nausea, and malaise; can begin 2 to 5 days after food is
eaten, lasting about 8 days. |
|
Listeria
|
Intestinal tracts of humans and animals, milk, soil,
leaf vegetables; can grow slowly at refrigerator temperatures.
|
Ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs, luncheon meats, cold cuts, fermented
or dry sausage, and other deli-style meat and poultry, soft cheeses
and unpasteurized milk. |
Fever, chills, headache, backache, sometimes
upset stomach, abdominal pain and diarrhea; may take up to 3 weeks
to become ill. More serious illness may develop in pregnant women,
newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.
|
Salmonella
(over 2300 types) |
Intestinal tracts
and feces of animals and sometimes in eggs. |
Raw or undercooked eggs, poultry, and meat; raw milk
and dairy products; seafood, and food handlers.
|
Stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea,
chills, fever, and headache usually appear 8 to 72 hours after
eating; may last 1 to 2 days.
|
Shigella
(over 30 types) |
Human intestinal tract; rarely found in other animals.
|
Person-to-person by fecal-oral route; fecal contamination
of food and water. Most outbreaks result from food, especially salads,
prepared and handled by workers using poor personal hygiene.
|
Disease referred to as "shigellosis" or
bacillary dysentery. Diarrhea containing blood and mucus, fever, abdominal
cramps, chills, and vomiting; 12 to 50 hours from ingestion of
bacteria; can last a few days to 2 weeks. |
| Staphylococcus
|
On humans
(skin, infected cuts, pimples, noses, and throats). |
Person-to-person
through food from improper food handling. Multiply rapidly at room
temperature to produce a toxin that causes illness. |
Severe nausea, abdominal cramps, vomiting,
and diarrhea occur 1 to 6 hours after eating; recovery within
2 to 3 days -- longer if severe dehydration occurs. |
