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Foodborne Illness 1. What is the infectious agent (pathogen) that causes this infectious disease? For example, the name of the bacteria, virus, or parasite. Hepatitis A is an infectious agent. Hepatitis A is also a liver disease. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. The inflammation can be very painful. It becomes red and swells up becoming like a hard rock. This is caused when tissues of our body becomes injured or infected. When the inflammation reaches a certain point in the liver, if not taken care of properly it can cause the organs not to work properly. We cant live without a liver. The liver has many uses, for example it removes harmful chemicals from the blood. Hepatitis A is a well-known virus. Therefore it can be cured very easily. 2. How is this infectious agent transmitted through food or water? Hepatitis A is an infectious agent and can be contracted from eating food or drinking water that’s contaminated with human feces. Like those who ingest seafood from contaminated water, they can be infected with the virus hepatitis A. You can catch Hepatitis A by drinking untreated water or food that has been washed by untreated water. For example when you are in the wild and catch afish out of the river and just cook it right away. Since you couldn’t rinse properly there would be a high chance of you catching hepatitis a. 3. What is an example of a real life outbreak of this foodborne illness in the United States? The Mexican green onion outbreak at Chi- Chi’s came a month after the restaurant chain had filed for bankruptcy. In 2004, it was forced to shut-down entirely, selling off some of its choice properties to Outback Steakhouse. Marler Clark represented many of the victims, including the 9,489 people who got inoculated because they were exposed to Hepatitis A at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi’s. The reason for the