Foodborne and waterborne infectious diseases. Contributing factors and solutions to new and reemerging pathogens

Demographic changes and complexities in food production, combined with complacency about the role of infectious diseases in general and the safety of the US food supply in particular, have brought about a resurgence in foodborne and waterborne infectious diseases and, with it, challenges that are unprecedented in recent times. A vigorous effort is already under way to ensure that food and water supplies are safe. This renewed attention to food and water safety must not be an interim response to a perceived short-term threat but, rather, a long-term effort to protect the population from pathogenic microorganisms whose wily adaptations will require constant vigilance.