Recently, it is really not peaceful, viruses and bacteria have taken turns!
The World Health Organization issued a communiqué on the 27th, and recently 11 countries have reported cases of Salmonella infection suspected of being related to chocolate produced in Belgium, and chocolate contaminated with Salmonella has been sold to at least 113 countries and regions. These chocolates are derived from the Kinder chocolate series produced by ferrero Group in Italy at its plant in Arlon, Belgium.
What is Salmonella?
Salmonella is a group of bacteria that parasitize the intestines of humans and animals and belong to Gram-negative bacilli. Salmonella is not just one bacterium, containing more than 2,000 species of bacteria in the entire genus Salmonella, widely distributed in nature, only a few can cause people to get sick, and most human infections are caused by two serotypes of Salmonella: Typhoid bacteria and Enteritid bacteria. Among the pathogenic microorganisms that cause foodborne disease (food poisoning), Salmonella is the first to be transmitted, generally through the fecal-oral route, that is, eating contaminated food and water.
Salmonella can survive in water for 2-3 weeks, in the refrigerator can survive for 3-4 months, in the natural environment of the feces can survive for 1-2 months, above 20 ° C can be a large number of reproduction, therefore, high temperature is the condition for salmonella mass reproduction, summer and autumn is the high season.
Are Salmonella infections scary?
About 450 people in the United States die each year from non-typhoid salmonella. But for the most part, for most people, it just means a food poisoning that lasts 8 to 72 hours.
All people are susceptible to Salmonella, and the main symptoms of Salmonella infection are fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, etc., which can also be accompanied by muscle soreness, and the natural course of the disease can last for 1-2 weeks. A small number of children, the elderly, and groups with poor immunity may also develop dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities, and even life-threatening bacteremia or meningitis after infection with Salmonella, which manifests as blurred vision, restlessness, and drowsiness.
The symptoms of Salmonella typhi infection are relatively severe, the most typical and important manifestations are persistent fever, abdominal pain, hepatosplenomegaly, etc., sometimes accompanied by rose-colored rashes and relatively bradycardia, severe cases can have nervous system symptoms such as apathy and slow response, and can also be accompanied by serious complications such as intestinal bleeding and intestinal perforation.
How can I avoid food poisoning caused by Salmonella infection?
The main thing is to ensure that food and drinking water are clean and hygienic, do not eat raw and cold spoiled food, and do not drink unraveled water. Salmonella is not tolerant of high temperatures, the best way to kill Salmonella is to heat, the higher the temperature, the better the effect. At 100 °C, Salmonella dies immediately. Food temperature reaches 80 ° C, cook for 15 minutes, eggs boil for 8 to 10 minutes to kill salmonella. If it is Salmonella in the environment, it can be killed with 84 disinfectants.
The second is to pay attention to hand hygiene, wash hands before meals, in addition, vegetables and fruits should be thoroughly rinsed before eating, and raw food and cooked food should be separated to ensure that the food is clean.