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The Epidemic Of Food Borne Illnesses

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Epidemiologists, those who study the origins and causes of disease, have been monitoring the epidemic of food borne illnesses since 1864 (CDC.int). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (heretofore refereed to as the CDC) approximately 1 in 6 Americans (roughly 48 million) contract food poisoning every year. Of the infected, on average food borne illness are responsible for 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths per year as reported in the CDC 's 2011 Emerging Infectious Diseases. The CDC has identified 250 diseases stemming from from viruses, parasites, and bacteria as well as chemical contamination which disseminates by natural and manufactured chemicals or by toxins produced by microorganisms. In the onslaught of food borne illnesses salmonelleosis and campylobacteriosis are the main culprits.

Affecting over 1.2 million people and causing 380 deaths per year in the United States alone, salmonelleosis (commonly referred to as salmonella), is regarded as the most common food borne disease. Common symptoms commence from 12 hours to three days after ingestion; severe cases and those who are more prone to disease–children, the elderly, and those with HIV/AIDs–experience fevers, diarrhea and vomiting due to the intestinal damaged triggered by the infection. Salmonella invades the body and the resulting tissue damage releases chemicals into the blood stream that trigger swelling and inflammation. AvrA temporarily stops salmonella from breaking apart

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