Food production, like all production sectors, is currently globally distributed. Consequently, the presence of a microorganism in food can be easily shared by different countries in a short time due to the high amount of food exportations daily. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of the strains and their dynamism in sharing genes between different serogroups represent an additional challenge in detecting these pathogens. Therefore, in this research topic, we are looking for studies investigating the genetic diversity of food pathogens and their distribution in different countries. In addition, the research focused on improving pathogen detection by aggregating a better sensitivity and specificity to these techniques are welcome.
Recently, some studies have reported food outbreaks in different countries from the same bacterial strain. Furthermore, the presence of bacteria with virulence genes from other groups has alerted the scientific community to food outbreaks that hybrid virulence strains could cause, e.g., STEC and EAEC in Germany in 2011. Thus, understanding the dispersion of strains and their genetic characterization is essential to define control measures. In addition, detection methods must be constantly improved to ensure that an accurate picture of contamination is obtained without under (false negative) or overestimating (false positive) the actual contamination values. Consequently, once the detection methods present the necessary robustness, using these techniques as a traceability strategy can help define the target points of the most significant risk of food contamination throughout the production flowchart.
This Research Topic aims to publish high quality research, and submissions should include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
1. Genetic microbial diversity using molecular tools
2. New methodologies to improve the detection of microorganisms
3. New results provide an epidemiological picture of food contamination in different locations
4. A point-to-point study of the food production flowchart determines the main risks of high contamination events
5. Systematic compilation of studies investigating the spread of pathogens worldwide
Food production, like all production sectors, is currently globally distributed. Consequently, the presence of a microorganism in food can be easily shared by different countries in a short time due to the high amount of food exportations daily. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of the strains and their dynamism in sharing genes between different serogroups represent an additional challenge in detecting these pathogens. Therefore, in this research topic, we are looking for studies investigating the genetic diversity of food pathogens and their distribution in different countries. In addition, the research focused on improving pathogen detection by aggregating a better sensitivity and specificity to these techniques are welcome.
Recently, some studies have reported food outbreaks in different countries from the same bacterial strain. Furthermore, the presence of bacteria with virulence genes from other groups has alerted the scientific community to food outbreaks that hybrid virulence strains could cause, e.g., STEC and EAEC in Germany in 2011. Thus, understanding the dispersion of strains and their genetic characterization is essential to define control measures. In addition, detection methods must be constantly improved to ensure that an accurate picture of contamination is obtained without under (false negative) or overestimating (false positive) the actual contamination values. Consequently, once the detection methods present the necessary robustness, using these techniques as a traceability strategy can help define the target points of the most significant risk of food contamination throughout the production flowchart.
This Research Topic aims to publish high quality research, and submissions should include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
1. Genetic microbial diversity using molecular tools
2. New methodologies to improve the detection of microorganisms
3. New results provide an epidemiological picture of food contamination in different locations
4. A point-to-point study of the food production flowchart determines the main risks of high contamination events
5. Systematic compilation of studies investigating the spread of pathogens worldwide
