Description

A question raised by many individuals today – “How Safe is Our Food Consumed Today?” Food safety has become a hot topic and an important public issue due to the increasingly widespread nature of foodborne illnesses in both developed and developing countries. As food is biological in nature and supplies consumers with nutrients, it is also equally capable of supporting the growth of microorganisms from the environmental sources. A precise method of monitoring and detecting of foodborne pathogens including Salmonella sp., Vibrio sp., Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter and Norovirus is needed to prevent and control human foodborne infections. Clinical treatments of infection caused by foodborne pathogens are becoming tougher with the increase number of multidrug resistant pathogens in the environment. This situation creates a huge healthcare burden – e.g. prolonged treatment for infections, decrease in the efficacy of antibiotic, delay in treatment due to unavailability of new antibiotics, and increased number of deaths. As such, continuous investigation of the foodborne pathogens is needed to pave the way for a deeper understanding on the foodborne diseases and to improve disease prevention, management and treatments.

This Research Topic will focus on studies (including e.g. original articles, perspectives, reviews, mini reviews, commentaries, opinion papers, data reports) that study and explore:
1. The diversity and prevalence of foodborne pathogens
2. The understanding on the virulence and pathogenicity of foodborne pathogens
3. Current advancement in the molecular detection method of foodborne pathogens
4. Genomic and proteomic characterization of pathogens that provides a rich set of data illuminating the metabolic versatility of the pathogens
5. Combating and management of multidrug resistant foodborne pathogens by non-antibiotic approach such bacteriophages, probiotics and use of natural products e.g. curcumin.

In summary, the proposed Research Topic on foodborne pathogens aims to report the latest progress in understanding and management of foodborne pathogens. We welcome any article reviewing the current aspect on foodborne pathogens and it is not limited on what we suggested and listed in the abstract.