Why Health Experts Aren't Warning aboutCoronavirus in Food

April 13, 2020

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

1.diarrhea – n. an illness that causes you to pass waste from yourbody very frequently and in liquid rather than solid form

2. digestive – adj. relatingto or functioning in the body's process of changing food into simpler formsthat can be taken up and used

3.respiratory – adj. relating to the act or process of breathing

4.salmonella – n. a kind of bacteria that is sometimes in food andthat makes people sick

Chickenwith salmonella bacteria can make you sick. Other foods with E. colibacteria or noroviruses can also make you sick. So why are health officials notwarning people about eating food contaminated with the new coronavirus?

The answerhas to do with the way different organisms make people sick.

The U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says viruses and germs attachto tissues to cause illnesses. Respiratory viruses like COVID-19usually attach to cells in places like people’s lungs. But germs like norovirusand salmonella can survive the acid found in stomachs. They then multiply afterattaching to cells inside the organ.

The CDCand other experts note that they are still studying the new coronavirus. Theysay there is no evidence yet that COVID-19 sickens people through theirstomachs. However, the virus has been found in the waste of infected people.The germs also spread differently.

Viruseslike the flu and COVID-19 spread mainly through person-to-person contact andair droplets from coughing or sneezing. Germs that make people sick throughfood cause illnesses like diarrhea. In some cases, germs found in humanwaste can travel from people’s hands to whatever else they touch.

Expertssay that is why it is so important for food workers to stay home when they aresick with digestive illnesses. Otherwise, they could end up sickeninglots of people.

Experts say the biggest risk relatedto food and COVID-19 is contact with other people and workers in food stores.Stores are now limiting the number of people they let in. They are askingcustomers to practice social distancing and using tape to mark how far apartpeople should stand.

The newcoronavirus can survive on some surfaces. Experts say to keep your hands toyourself as much as possible and to not touch your face when shopping. The CDCsuggests washing your hands after unpacking your groceries at home.

It mayalso be harder for viruses to survive on food itself.

AlisonStout is an expert in infectious diseases and public health at CornellUniversity. She told the Associated Press that “the chances of anythingsurviving or coming out of [food] are small.”

The CDCnotes that it is not known whether the germs found in human waste can actuallysicken someone. Stout said the coronavirus being found in human waste is notlikely a sign of its ability to survive in the digestive system.

Questions:

1. What bacteria found in chick hassalmonella?

2. Why is corona virus more deadly thansalmonella and e-coli?

3. Do food workers also play animportant part in keeping the foods clean and virus free? Why or why not?

4. How can we possibly stop the spreadof corona virus?