Preharvest Transmission Routes of Fresh Produce Associated Bacterial Pathogens with Outbreak Potentials: A Review

Chidozie Declan Iwu and Anthony Ifeanyi Okoh
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Chidozie Declan Iwu: SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
Anthony Ifeanyi Okoh: SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-34

Abstract: Disease outbreaks caused by the ingestion of contaminated vegetables and fruits pose a significant problem to human health. The sources of contamination of these food products at the preharvest level of agricultural production, most importantly, agricultural soil and irrigation water, serve as potential reservoirs of some clinically significant foodborne pathogenic bacteria. These clinically important bacteria include: Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp., Citrobacter spp., Shigella spp., Enterobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes and pathogenic E. coli (and E. coli O157:H7) all of which have the potential to cause disease outbreaks. Most of these pathogens acquire antimicrobial resistance (AR) determinants due to AR selective pressure within the agroecosystem and become resistant against most available treatment options, further aggravating risks to human and environmental health, and food safety. This review critically outlines the following issues with regards to fresh produce; the global burden of fresh produce-related foodborne diseases, contamination between the continuum of farm to table, preharvest transmission routes, AR profiles, and possible interventions to minimize the preharvest contamination of fresh produce. This review reveals that the primary production niches of the agro-ecosystem play a significant role in the transmission of fresh produce associated pathogens as well as their resistant variants, thus detrimental to food safety and public health.

Keywords: preharvest; irrigation water; agricultural soil; food safety; antibiotic resistance; environmental health; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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