{"id":187,"date":"2016-05-03T15:18:18","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T15:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/?page_id=187"},"modified":"2023-09-22T09:05:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T13:05:04","slug":"foodborne-disease-faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/food-safety-in-virginia\/foodborne-diseases-and-outbreaks\/foodborne-disease-faq\/","title":{"rendered":"Foodborne Disease: Frequently Asked Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

What are the signs and symptoms associated with foodborne disease?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Foodborne diseases usually cause gastrointestinal illness, meaning they affect your stomach or bowel.\u00a0 Signs and symptoms associated with gastrointestinal illness vary, depending upon several factors including the disease, the age and health status of the patient and how much of the particular pathogen was ingested (eaten).\u00a0 Typical signs and symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrheal illness and abdominal pain.\u00a0 Additional signs and symptoms may include fever, headache, malaise, a general feeling of being unwell, myalgia (muscle ache), loss of appetite, loss of weight, chills and dehydration.\u00a0 Certain signs and symptoms are usually associated with particular diseases, such as jaundice with hepatitis A.\u00a0 In addition, sometimes serious illness can follow a gastrointestinal illness.\u00a0 Examples of this include HUS, a severe kidney condition that can occur after illness caused by E. coli<\/em> infections or Guillain-Barre syndrome, a nerve condition that occasionally follows illness with campylobacteriosis.<\/p>\n

What are some of the leading causes of foodborne disease in Virginia?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The most frequently reported gastrointestinal diseases in Virginia include bacterial infections, such as salmonellosis<\/a>\u00a0and campylobacteriosis<\/a>, and giardiasis<\/a>, a parasitic disease.\u00a0 In addition, norovirus<\/a> is one of the most frequently reported causes of gastrointestinal outbreaks.\u00a0 Additional information regarding foodborne disease may be found by referring to factsheets on the Foodborne Diseases page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When may my bout of gastrointestinal illness be investigated by the Virginia Department of Health?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are currently more than seventy-five reportable diseases and conditions in Virginia as required by state law.\u00a0 Doctors, hospitals and laboratories report these diseases and conditions to the health department when a reportable disease diagnosis is suspected or confirmed.\u00a0 The health department usually calls patients to collect information about the illness and certain exposures.\u00a0 Health department interviews usually include questions about certain exposures the patient had before the start of the illness (i.e. food history, water exposure, travel history, contact with animals) as well as a review of information contained in the initial report.\u00a0 Confidentiality of information collected from patients by communicable disease staff at the local\u00a0 or state health department is maintained according to state and federal law, including the provisions of \u00a7\u00a7 32.1-38, 32.1-41 and 32.1-74 of the Code of Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In situations in which a suspected foodborne outbreak is discovered, all persons identified as being part of the investigation (includes people who were at the same event or the same restaurant) may be contacted by local health department staff to collect additional information.\u00a0 This may include individuals that became ill, but did not seek medical attention or individuals that did not become ill.\u00a0 The health department will record all illness complaints called in to them, however, not all complaints will result in an investigation being started.<\/p>\n

What should be done if I suspect that I may be infected with a foodborne disease?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you develop gastrointestinal illness (i.e. diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, etc…) and believe your symptoms may have been caused by food, you may need to visit your medical provider or a hospital, depending upon the severity of your symptoms.\u00a0 Upon a visit to a healthcare professional\/facility, a stool specimen may be collected to test at a laboratory to help determine if you have been infected with a particular foodborne disease.\u00a0 Another consideration would be to report your concern to the Virginia Department of Health or Virginia Department of Agriculture, depending upon the source of the food product you suspect may have caused your illness.\u00a0 The health department is responsible for inspecting restaurants<\/a> and licensed caterers.\u00a0 The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services<\/a> is responsible for inspecting other types of food retail establishments, such as grocery stores and delicatessens with limited seating capacity.\u00a0 When contacting the health department to report a complaint, call the local health district<\/a> (environmental health services) in which the restaurant or caterer is located.\u00a0 An inspection of the retail food establishment may result from your call.<\/p>\n

What is an incubation period and how does this relate to my bout of gastrointestinal illness\/foodborne disease?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An incubation period is the amount of time it takes for signs and symptoms to appear.\u00a0 It is measured as the length of time between exposure to and the appearance of the first symptoms of illness.\u00a0 For example, a person eats a piece of undercooked chicken that is contaminated with Salmonella<\/em> bacteria on Monday at 12pm.\u00a0 The person starts to feel sick on Tuesday at 2pm with diarrhea and stomach cramps.\u00a0 The incubation period is measured from Monday at 12pm, when the bacteria first entered the body, until Tuesday at 2pm, when they first started to feel sick.\u00a0 This person\u2019s incubation period was 26 hours.\u00a0 The incubation period is important because it gives a specific timeframe in which an exposure most likely caused a disease.\u00a0 When the person ill with salmonellosis is interviewed by the health department, questions about foods eaten will focus on the three days before their illness started (Saturday at 2pm until Tuesday at 2pm) because the incubation period ranges up to 72 hours for salmonellosis.\u00a0 Each foodborne disease has a different incubation period.<\/p>\n

A common misconception is that gastrointestinal illness was caused by the last food item that was eaten before symptoms started.\u00a0 While there are a few instances in which gastrointestinal illness may result within a few hours of exposure to a particular pathogen, in fact, many of the foodborne diseases have incubation periods that are longer than a day.\u00a0 Some foodborne diseases, such as hepatitis A and listeriosis, may cause illness one to two months following exposure to the pathogen.\u00a0 Below is a listing of several foodborne diseases with their incubation period averages and ranges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0Usual Incubation Period<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0Range of incubation period\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Bacterial Diseases<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Salmonellosis<\/td>\n\u00a012- 36 hours<\/td>\n\u00a06-72 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Shigellosis<\/td>\n\u00a01-3 days<\/td>\n\u00a012-96 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Campylobacteriosis<\/td>\n\u00a02-5 days<\/td>\n\u00a01-10 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Shiga toxin-producing E. coli<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a03-4 days<\/td>\n\u00a0 2-10 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Listeriosis<\/td>\n\u00a03 weeks<\/td>\n\u00a03-70 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n<\/td>\n		\n
\n<\/td>\n		\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Viral Diseases<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Norovirus<\/td>\n\u00a024-48 hours<\/td>\n\u00a010-50 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Hepatitis A<\/td>\n\u00a028-30 days<\/td>\n\u00a015-50 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n<\/td>\n		\n
\n<\/td>\n		\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Parasitic Diseases<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Giadiasis<\/td>\n\u00a07-10 days<\/td>\n\u00a03-25 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Cryptosporidiosis<\/td>\n\u00a07 days<\/td>\n\u00a01-12 days<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n<\/td>\n		\n
\n<\/td>\n		\n
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Foodborne Intoxication<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Staphylococcus aureus<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a02-4 hours<\/td>\n\u00a030 minutes – 8 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0Bacillus cereus<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a0Range: 0.5-6 hours<\/p>\n

(emetic type)<\/td>\n

6-24 hours<\/p>\n

(diarrheal type)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0Clostridium perfringens<\/em><\/td>\n\u00a010-12 hours<\/td>\n\u00a06-24 hours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are the signs and symptoms associated with foodborne disease? Foodborne diseases usually cause gastrointestinal illness, meaning they affect your stomach or bowel.\u00a0 Signs and symptoms associated with gastrointestinal illness vary, depending upon several factors including the disease, the age and health status of the patient and how much of the particular pathogen was ingested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"parent":3546,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nFoodborne Disease: Frequently Asked Questions - Environmental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/food-safety-in-virginia\/foodborne-diseases-and-outbreaks\/foodborne-disease-faq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Foodborne Disease: Frequently Asked Questions - Environmental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are the signs and symptoms associated with foodborne disease? 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