Bacteria causing of foodborne diseases: An overview at Colombia

Abstract

Objetive: Food-borne diseases are a serious public health problem worldwide; with pathogenic bacteria as the most common cause, leading to gastrointestinal disorders which can eventually lead to death. In this review are described studies about the detection of food-borne pathogenic bacteria in Colombia publicized between the years 2010-2013, looks at information on the characteristics and prevalence factor of found pathogens, the foods implicated in the studies and the characterization of isolated microorganisms. The database search yielded a total of 16 articles focused directly to the detection of five pathogens: Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Aeromonas spp. and Vibrio spp.; nevertheless, most of the studies focused on Salmonella. There were no research projects on any other food-borne disease-causing pathogens. The products tested were mainly raw or ready-to-eat animal-based foods such as sea food and meat. This review reveals that despite the importance of detecting and characterizing pathogens transmitted by contaminated food, there are very few published studies on this topic for the given review period. Likewise, the research work was directed primarily to the search of micro-organisms as a final product rather than contamination along the production line.