INTRODUCTION Diarrhoeal diseases, mostly caused by foodborne or waterborne microbial pathogens, are leading causes of illness and deaths in developing countries, killing an estimated 1.9 million people annually at the global level. Even in developed countries, an estimated one-third of the population are affected by microbiological foodborne diseases each year (1). In contrast, Kaferstein and Abdussalam reported that up to 10% of the population of industrialized countries might suffer annually from foodborne diseases (2).
