[Diagnosis and control of human food poisoning outbreaks]. / Diagnostic et contrôle en médecine humaine des toxi- infections alimentaires collectives.

ABSTRACT

Medical microbiology laboratories play a key role in the investigation of foodborne disease outbreaks. Bacterial pathogens (Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, etc) have historically been implicated in foodborne illness, while the role of viruses (especially Norovirus) appears to have been underestimated. Culture-based diagnosis has gradually been complemented, or replaced, by rapid molecular methods applied directly to biological samples. These new tools should help to reduce the number of outbreaks in which the etiological agent goes unidentified, and to improve the exhaustiveness of notifications.