With so much attention focused on emerging pathogens, one might wonder where the foodborne viruses fit into this picture. While it might appear that these are relatively "new" agents of foodborne disease, the reality is that, as evolutionarily simple forms of "life," the enteric viruses have probably been causing disease since the dawn of mankind. However, with improvements in epidemiology, molecular biology, and the new discipline of molecular epidemiology, scientists are now able to detect and characterize this previously non-detectable group of pathogens. In short, it is not the viruses but our ability to study them that is emerging.
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