Foodborne Infections and Intoxications
Aeromonas and Plesiomonas are ubiquitous in natural and municipal water sources, lending to contamination of water-related food commodities, such as fish and seafood, as well as introduction into other foodstuffs through unsanitary processing and handling. Although gastrointestinal disease is usually mild or even asymptomatic, both organisms are invasive and can lead to septicemia and other extraintestinal infections in immunocompromised individuals. Major risk factors for disease include consumption of raw and undercooked seafood, foreign travel, especially to developing countries with inadequate sanitation, and underlying hepatobiliary disease and malignancies.