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1. Introduction
For centuries, infectious diseases have caused serious challenges to human well-being and survival. One of the most common types of infectious diseases is gastrointestinal (GI) infection. Infectious GI disease accounts for a large proportion of mortality and morbidity worldwide [1]. Gastrointestinal infection (or infectious gastroenteritis) is a medical condition associated with inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that involves both the stomach and the small intestine [2]. For instance, GI infection-induced diarrhea is known as the most common cause of death in the age group 0-5 globally [3].
Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are common causes of GI infections [4]. In most cases, the GI infection resolves spontaneously without any medical intervention; however, there have also been significant improvements in treatment options, which can reduce mortality and morbidity. The socio-economic impacts of GI diseases remain substantial, due to their high incidence [3]. Globally, infectious GI disease and dehydration remain leading causes of mortality, responsible for an estimated 450,000 annual deaths (8% of all deaths in 2016) [5]. The majority of the deaths occurred in children under 2 years old, and in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa [5].
Thus, dehydration is less likely to cause death in developed countries, although gastroenteritis is a significant cause of morbidity. Annually, acute gastroenteritis accounts for 3.7 million physician visits, 135,000 to 220,000 pediatric admissions (9-13% of total hospitalizations for children below 5 years of age), and 150 to 300 deaths among children below 5 years of age in the United States (US) [2]. In Australia, it is estimated that there are 17 million GI infections per annum, nearly one episode per person [6].
The variable routes of transmission of these pathogens can be categorized into food-borne, water-borne, vector-borne, and person to person GI infections. The focus of this research is on food-borne disease because we hypothesize that there is an association between temperature and food-borne GI infections and that these may become more common under current climate change predictions. Food-borne GI infections may occur following food contamination during processing, transport, and preparation of food [7]. Some organisms causing food-borne infections, such as Salmonella, can survive in the general environment and replicate outside an animal host when conditions are optimal [7].
There is evidence that the growth and dissemination of...