Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to impact our daily chores of work, education, travel, and food. In this chapter, historical anecdote of SARS pandemic of 2003 is compared with the current COVID-19 with the timeline. The emergence and the primary mode of airborne transmission of the SARS CoV2 that has been incriminated in the outbreaks of meat processing plants is discussed. Considering the WHO report on the likelihood of four possible pathways in the introduction of SARS CoV2 that included the introduction through cold food chain products, advisories for owners, employees, and guests in the hospitality, food, and beverage industry are provided that emphasize on food safety through HACCP food management systems. The approaches of pretravel consultation, vaccination, and adhering to good behaviors of physical distancing, hand hygiene, and face masking are detailed to anticipate early bounce back of the tourism, hospitality, food, and beverage industries.
TopIntroduction
In 1969, the US surgeon-general Dr. William. H. Stewart quoted: “It is time to close the book on infectious diseases and declare the war against pestilence won” (Spellberg,& Taylor-Blake, 2013); his statement mirrored the prevailing belief at the time that infectious diseases are no more a threat in the future. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) of the 21st century is not the first pandemic that has tormented the world. The Justinian Plague of the 6th century that broke out in Egypt had decimated around 25-100 million people, Black Death or the Bubonic plaque in the 14th century hit Europe and Asia, killed around 75-200 million, Spanish Flu during World War I killed around 50 million (Akin & Gözel, 2020). Smallpox (the first and only infectious disease that has been eradicated so far) is among other historical pandemics. The rise of new infectious threats has brought about the realization that unpredictable pandemics have the potential for catastrophic impact. Pandemics do leave a scar behind, while influencing and shaping the human society. In our generation, what we experience is only the tip of an iceberg, nine-tenths of potential infectious agents are still hidden.
Even in the twenty-first century, we have not halted of repeating our mistakes of the past that triggered or exacerbated epidemics/pandemics, of note, we have succumbed to Ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by the coronavirus (SARS CoV1), and the current pandemic of COVID 19 caused by SARS CoV2. As of April 3, 2021, the dashboard for COVID-19 of the World Health Organization revealed that there were 129,619,536 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2,827,610 deaths worldwide, and continue to cause profound economic damage, with a global growth reduction of 4·4% in 2020 (World Health Organization [WHO],2021a). Pandemics by their very nature are divisive and have a huge impact on our daily chores of work, education, travel, and food. To say the least, our basic needs become opportunities for the transmission of infectious agents.
The increase in the number and the rapidity of travelers has not only had economic, cultural, and social repercussions, but medical and epidemiological consequences. Microbes or parasites do not have borders; they do not need a passport or visas. International travel may not just result in new illnesses, but also exacerbate prevailing illnesses. “Emporiatrics” or “Travel medicine” is a rapidly evolving, dynamic, and multidisciplinary specialty of the health sector which focuses on pretravel advisory on preventive care, and during the travel on the most specific risk management interventions to promote health and prevent adverse health outcomes.
Coronavirus has not been found to thrive in food; they need a live animal or human host to survive and multiply. However, if the provider follows good personal and food hygiene practices, the risks can be averted. Currently, there is no evidence that consumers can be infected by SARS CoV2 or no confirmed case of COVID-19 from food. Briefly, COVID-19 is a respiratory disease. Transmission occurs through person-to-person contact with respiratory droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Nonetheless, SARS CoV2 can enter business premises when an infected person enters, or contaminated fomites are brought into the premises. Since, food has not been implicated in the transmission of COVID-19, testing of food or food surfaces for SARS CoV2 is not advised, but frequent cleaning of food contact surfaces with virucidal disinfectants either chlorine or alcohol-based products is mandatory. Most countries have legislation in place for food safety to ensure that the food in any establishment – from restaurants and supermarkets to delis, food trucks, and cafés – is safe to eat and as labelled or advertised.
The objectives of this chapter are: 1. To provide an overview of COVID-19 through emporiatrics, 2. To describe food safety for the consumers in the hospitality and food and beverage industry in the pandemic of COVID-19, and 3. Position the basics of preventing COVID-19 in the landscape of emporiatrics.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Food Irradiation: Is exposer of the food to ionizing radiation by gamma sources (Cobalt 60 or Cesium- 137), X-rays, or electrons to eradicate living organisms such as insects, microbes to increase the shelf-life of the food ( IAEA,1995 ).
Foodborne Illness: Is “any disease caused by, or thought to be caused by, the consumption of food or beverage that are contaminated with pathogenic microbes or chemicals” ( WHO, 2021b ).
Food Safety: Encompasses all the conditions and important practices—an entire system of managing risks—that preserve the quality of food that is fit for human consumption while preventing contamination and food-borne illnesses ( Burton, 2019 ).
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP): Is a systemic approach that attempts to prevent or minimize any risk that may compromise the food safety (Food Standards Agency, UK, 2021).
Foodborne Outbreak: Is declared when more than two people acquire the same illness resulting from the consumption of same contaminated food or beverage ( CDC,2020 ).
Bioaerosols: Are particles of microbial, plant, or animal origin that includes live or dead bacteria, fungi, viruses, allergens usually less than 5 µm in diameter suspended in air that cause an infection ( Morawska & Cao, 2020 ).
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC): Is an extraordinary event that may constitute a public health risk to other countries through international spread of disease and may require an international coordinated response ( WHO,2021c ).
Public Health: Is defined as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organized efforts of society” ( Acheson, 1988 ).
Food Hygiene: Refers to one of the important practices - an individual set of practices of food safety, therefore, food hygiene is a subcategory of food safety ( Burton, 2019 ).
Emporiatrics or Travel Medicine: Is the branch of medicine that “deals with the prevention and management of health problems of international travelers” ( Aw et al., 2014 ).
Pandemic: Is a disease that is widespread across countries and continents ( WHO, 2021c ).
Vaccine Efficacy: Means under “ideal” conditions, how does the vaccine protect the vaccinated against an infectious disease compared to the unvaccinated. For example, a 95% vaccine efficacy of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine against SARS CoV2 means that the vaccinated had 95% lower risk of getting COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated or vaccinated were 20 times less likely to get COVID-19 than the unvaccinated ( Callaway & Mallapaty, 2021 ).