Since the mid-1970s, large-scale eventsic eventsuchch as harmful algal blooms and other microbial outbreaks, disease epidemics and mass mortalities have occurred in marine environments at a historically unprecedented rate, and may reflect environmental changes and an unfavorable energetic balance in animals [ 1].
There are several risk factors particular to shellfish that make it much more dangerous than raw fish: Red tide and other naturally occurring microbial outbreaks can contaminate shellfish, which build up toxins in their flesh.
Chipotle's by no means unique among restaurants and other processed food retailers for that, and it is by no means the first to experience microbial outbreaks.
However, active surveillance programmes taking advantage of new methodologies, including virtual tools and mathematical programs, should be the goal for early detection of unusual patterns of microbial pathogens, outbreaks and healthcare-associated infections.
The uncertainty that surrounds any response to a microbial outbreak, the "fog of epidemics," is analogous to the fog of war, of which historians speak (2 ).
Outbreaks and recalls caused by microbial pathogens are widely attributed to contaminated foods, and lead to considerable public health and economic burdens.
A troubling number of health care-acquired infection outbreaks and transmission events, some involving highly resistant microbial pathogens and resulting in serious patient outcomes, have been traced to reusable, high-level disinfected duodenoscopes in the United States.
Enteric microbial pathogens were isolated in samples from ≥1 person in 32% of the 82 outbreaks, and potentially pathogenic parasites were isolated in 6 (19%) of 31 outbreaks (Table 1).
Pathogenic enterobacteria cause biomedically and agriculturally significant diseases, and historically have resulted in numerous pandemics, foodborne outbreaks, and nosocomial infections, arguably impacting human health more than any other microbial family.
It is an increasing function for smaller outbreaks and seems to stabilize for longer outbreak sizes.
