Bacterial causes of food poisoning

Organism	Source/vehicles	Incubation period	Symptoms	Diagnosis	Recovery
Staphylococcus aureus	Man - contaminated food and water	2-4 h	Diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration	Culture organism in vomitus or remaining food	< 24 h
E. coli	Salads, water, ice	24 h	Watery diarrhoea	Stool culture	1-4 days
E. coli O157:H7	Cattle - meat, milk	12-48 h	Watery diarrhoea ± haemorrhagic colitis, HUS	Stool culture	10-12 days
Yersinia enterocolitica	Milk, pork	2-14 h	Abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea	Stool culture	2-30 days
Bacillus cereus	Environment - rice, ice-cream, chicken	1-6 h 6-14 h	Vomiting	Culture organism in faeces and food	Rapid
Clostridium perfringens	Environment - contaminated food	8-22 h	Watery diarrhoea and cramping pain	Culture organism in faeces and food	2-3 days
Listeria monocytogenes	Environment - milk, raw vegetables dairy products, unpasteurized cheese	?	Colic, diarrhoea and vomiting	Stool culture	?
Vibrio parahaemolyticus	Seafood	2-48 h	Diarrhoea, vomiting	Stool, food	2-10 days
Clostridium botulinum	Environment - bottled or canned food	18-24 h	Brief diarrhoea and paralysis due to neuromuscular blockade	Demonstrate toxin in food or faeces	10-14 days
Salmonella spp.	Cattle and poultry - eggs, meat	12-48 h	Abrupt diarrhoea, fever and vomiting	Stool culture	Usually 3-6 days, but may be up to 2 weeks
Campylobacter jejuni	Cattle and poultry - meat, milk	48-96 h	Diarrhoea ± blood, fever, malaise and abdominal pain	Stool culture	3-5 days
Shigella spp.	Man - contaminated food and water	24-48 h	Acute watery, bloody diarrhoea	Stool culture	7-10 days