Enteric pathogen diversity in infant foods in low-income neighborhoods of Kisumu, Kenya

Tsai et al. (2019) published this paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Pathogen spread through food is a crucial transmission route for diarrhoeal disease in children in low and middle-income countries. This paper explores this under-researched area. The authors examined the frequency of enteric pathogen occurrence and co-occurrence in 127 infant weaning foods and assessed household food hygiene risk factors for contamination in Kisumu, Kenya. Enteric pathogen material was detected in 62% of the infant weaning foods and 37% of foods contained more than one pathogen type. The type of infant food best explained the presence and diversity of enteric pathogens in infant food, with cow's milk carrying a particularly high risk. Most household food hygiene risk factors considered in the study were not significantly associated with pathogen contamination. This research demonstrates the importance of interventions to prevent foodborne transmission of diarrhoeal pathogens to infants in low-income urban settings.