Got food poisoning? One of these 4 bugs is likely the cause

As temperatures continue to rise, so too does the risk of food poisoning. 

Record-breaking temperatures have already wrought one high-profile food poisoning outbreak this summer. Since May, U.S. officials have been investigating an upsurge of listeria cases linked to sliced deli meat that has, so far, sickened dozens and led to several deaths.

About 48 million people in the U.S.(about one in six) fall prey to a foodborne pathogen every year, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Foodborne illnesses are such a common occurrence that real incidents likely go underdiagnosed, says Geetika Sood, an assistant professor of medicine and an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. But that’s actually a good thing, she explains: “That means that most people that do develop foodborne illness don't get sick enough to have to come into the hospital or have to seek medical care. It’s usually self-limited.”

Healthy people with mild food poisoning symptoms often don’t require medical care and will recover in a few days with the help of lots of fluids, but serious infections may need medical intervention.

Strong prevention tactics include vigorous cleaning (especially of your hands and places where food is prepared), cooking food thoroughly, avoiding cross-contamination while cooking, and steering clear of food that’s been left out at room temperature for more than two hours.

Alas, defending your kitchen (and your gut) from harmful bacteria can be a challenge even for the most experienced culinary connoisseurs. Here are some of the most common and deadliest culprits that tend to contaminate our meals.

Listeria

One of the more life-threatening pathogens that can be found thriving both in nature and in moist environments like factory floor drains, listeria is the nation’s third-leading cause of death from foodborne illness. The reason listeria is so deadly is because it often catalyzes other lethal bacterial infections, such as meningitis.

Listeria is especially dangerous to vulnerable populations like children, pregnant women, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems. Listeria infections have been linked to unpasteurized raw milk, hot dogs, dry sausages, smoked seafood, and salads, to name a few. 

Symptoms of a listeria infection usually begin within a few hours to days of eating food that’s been contaminated and can include fever, nausea, vomiting, a stiff neck, severe headaches, and seizures. In pregnant persons, the illness may present as a flu characterized by muscle aches or fatigue but can tend to lead to other complications, such as miscarriage or stillbirth.

While listeria isn’t contagious from person to person, it can still be hard to get rid of the germ completely, not only because it spreads easily from contaminated food to nearby surfaces. Though freezing won't kill listeria, diluted bleach can kill it on surfaces and heating food past 165 °F will kill it in food. 

Norovirus 

A highly contagious bug that causes intense diarrhea and vomiting, norovirus has infected huge crowds in recent years. What makes the common stomach bug extremely dangerous is its ability to spread so efficiently. 

“Bacteria have their own unique personality which helps us sort of pinpoint what the disease is,” says Sood. “Norovirus tends to be very sudden and very severe.”

The speed at which norovirus spreads might be due to vomit being ejected so violently that it becomes aerosolized, causing particles of the virus to become airborne in confined spaces.

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Transmission of this virus typically occurs through direct person-to-person contact or when an individual comes into contact with contaminated food, water, or feces. These instances happen often in close quarters, such as in schools, cruises, planes, or nursing homes—areas where a lack of robust cleaning puts people at higher risk of contracting and passing along these illnesses. 

Once infected, it can take about 12 to 48 hours for someone to present with symptoms, during which they might be overcome with abdominal cramps, nausea, or fever.

“The other thing that's unique about norovirus is that it tends to stay in the environment for very, very long periods of time,” Sood says. Unfortunately, you can continue to be contagious with a norovirus infection for weeks after symptoms clear up, according to the American Medical Association.

Salmonella and Campylobacter

Salmonella-type food poisoning can frequently be chalked up to a person eating or coming into contact with spoiled or undercooked food. Despite how common and well-known this bacteria is, it can still be deadly.

This germ can easily send you to the hospital, says Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, director and professor at the Center for Food Safety at The University of Georgia. 

Symptoms usually arise between six hours to six days after coming in contact with salmonella and include gastrointestinal illness, high fevers, and at times, bloody stool. 

The bug has been traced to petting zoos, farms, and daycares, and has been known to sicken people through animal-to-human contact and through eating raw veggies that came into contact with contaminated soil, manure, or water. Another type of bacterial infection, called Campylobacter, has similar causes and sickens people in much the same way.

“A lot of the foodborne diseases that happen in this country are not the ones advertised by the big outbreaks,” Diez-Gonzalez says. Instead, most salmonella infections happen at home, where it’s the consumer’s responsibility to avoid poor food handling.

Most healthy people who get salmonella can be given fluids and recover with no treatment. Others may require antibiotics to prevent the infection from spreading from the intestines to the bloodstream.  

E.Coli

 E.coli can sicken people in a variety of ways, and if you haven’t heard, has already made a frightening debut at this year’s Olympic Games.

Usually, caches of good E.coli that reside in our intestines help digest food, produce vitamins, and ward off harmful microbes. But invasive E.coli, which enters the body by being swallowed, can wreak havoc when compared to their more companionable cousins.

Typically spread by not washing your hands or coming in contact with infected animals or livestock, crops, or other people, it can take between three and four days for E.coli to incubate inside the body.

Subsequent infections are distinguished by severe diarrhea, stomach pain, and a loss of appetite. Serious run-ins with the bacteria have also been known to lead to other illnesses, including pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and sepsis. Some toxin-secreting E.coli infections are especially well-known for causing kidney failure and death.  

As more people continue to rely on doctors and scientists to keep them safe and informed about public health outbreaks in the region, many experts hope their efforts might eventually help renew public trust in the larger healthcare system.

“There are a lot of people who really want everybody to be healthy,” Sood says. “Public health institutions are really working hard to try to protect the public from all kinds of infectious disease threats.”