Sidd
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"Sustainable dairy business."
Posted on 22. Dec 2023
This is a gram-positive anaerobic spore bearing bacilli that is present abundantly in the environment, vegetation, sewage and animal faeces.Perfringens food poisoning is most commonly caused by organisms producing type A enterotoxin. The other types of enterotoxin (B to G) do not normally cause food borne disease (Labbe & Nolan, 1981).Epidemiology
Clostridium perfringens type A food poisoning remains one of the most prevalent food born disease in western countries. The food poisoning strains of C. perfringens exists in soils, water, food, dust, spices and intestinal tract of humans and other animals.Pathogenesis
Spores in food may survive cooking and then germinate when they are improperly stored. When these vegetative cells form endospore in the intestine, they release enterotoxins. The bacterium is known to produce at least 12 different toxins.Food poisoning is mainly caused by type A strains which produce alpha and theta toxins. The toxin results in excessive fluid accumulation in the intestinal lumen (CDC, 2011). The C. perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) is not a super antigen as are staphylococcal enterotoxins.Enterotoxigenesis begins when C. perfringens enterotoxin bind to one or more protein receptors on epithelial cells in the gastro intestinal tract. It does not affect cyclic adenosine mono phosphate levels as do enterotoxigenic strains of E. coli.It localizes in small plasma membrane complex and apparently associated with a membrane protein to form a larger complex This coincides with the onset of CPE-induced membrane permeability alterations that leads to cell death from lysis or metabolic disturbances (Radostits, Gay, Hinchlif, & Constable, 2007).Symptoms
The incubation period is 8-24 hours. The illness is characterized by acute abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting. The illness is self-limiting and the patient recovers within 8-24 hours.The classic symptom of C. perfringens type A food poisoning is diarrhoea with lower abdominal cramps. Mortality is low and such cases have been associated with elderly patients (Robinson, Batt, & Patel, 2000).Detection of the organism and enterotoxin
The criteria proposed for establishing an outbreak of C. perfringens type A food poisoning include;- More than 106 spores/gram faeces from ill individuals;
- More than 105cells/gram incriminated food;
- The presence of some serotypes of C. perfringens in an ill individual in an outbreak or detection of enterotoxin in faeces of individuals.
Homogenized food is diluted and plated on selective medium as well as Robertson cooked meat medium and incubated anaerobically. The isolated bacteria must be shown to produce enterotoxin.Control and prevention
- Cook meat until the internal temperature reaches at least 74°C, preferably higher;
- Thoroughly wash and sanitation of all containers and equipment that previously had contact with raw meat/eggs
- Wash hands and use disposable plastic gloves when handling raw or uncooked foods
- Separate meat and other food stock before chilling;
- Chill meat rapidly after cooking;
- Use refrigeration for storage.
Since the organism is present in animals, it can be found in raw meat and poultry. The spores will also survive indefinitely in dust and in environmental niches. Cooking at temperatures not exceeding 100°C will allow the survival of the spores.The cooking process drives off oxygen creating real anaerobic conditions in foods such as rolls of cooked meat, pies, and gravies and in poultry carcass. Therefore, prevention of vegetative cells in cooked foods is a practical way of preventing C. perfringens food borne illness (Robinson, Batt, & Patel, 2000).Occurrence is worldwide with varying incidences. Case fatality ratio in industrialized countries is 0.1%.References
- CDC. (2011). Estimates of Foodborne Illnesses in the United States. New York: Centers of Disease Control.
- Labbe, R., & Nolan, L. (1981). Stimulation of Clostridium perfringens Enterotoxin Formation by Caffeine and Theobromine. Infectious Immunology, 34, 50-54.
- Radostits, O., Gay, C., Hinchlif, K., & Constable, P. (2007). Veterinary Medicine Text Book of Diseases of Cattle, Horses, Sheep, Pigs and Goats (10th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders.
- Robinson, R., Batt, C., & Patel, P. (2000). Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology (5th ed.). San Diego: Academic Press.
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