Viruses in Foods

This is the first book to focus entirely on viruses in foods. It collates information on the occurrence, detection, transmission, and epidemiology of viruses in various foods. Although methods for bacterial detection in food are available, methods for detection of viruses in food, with the exception of shellfish, are not available. It is important, therefore, to develop methods for direct examination of food for viruses and to explore alternate indicators that can accurately reflect the virological quality of food.

This book addresses these issues along with strategies for the prevention and control of viral contamination of food.

Cases of viral foodborne outbreaks are on the rise in part due to the increases in population, scarcity of clean water, and changes in eating habits. Outbreaks attributed to toxic, fungal, parasitic, and bacterial agents are very well known and characterized because we have known about these diseases for a long time and have developed appropriate methods to investigate and track them. Detection methods to investigate and track viral agents in food, with the exception of shellfish, have only recently begun to be developed. However, with the advent of molecular diagnostic methods, the role of viruses in foodborne disease outbreaks is beginning to be understood.

Viruses in Foods is the first book that comprehensively discusses the role of viruses in foodborne disease outbreaks, along with strategies for the prevention and control of viral contamination of food.

 

About the Editor:

Sagar M. Goyal is a professor of Veterinary Population Medicine and director of graduate studies at the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine.