Symptoms typically begin several hours to several days after ingestion and depending on the agent involved, can include one or more of the following:

• Nausea
• Abdominal pain
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Gastroenteritis
• Fever
• Headache
• Fatigue

In most cases the body is able to permanently recover after a short period of acute discomfort and illness. However, foodborne illness can result in permanent health problems or even death, especially in babies, pregnant women (and their fetuses), elderly people, sick people and others with weak immune systems. Foodborne illness is a major cause of reactive arthritis, which typically occurs 1–3 weeks afterward. Similarly, people with liver disease are especially susceptible to infections from Vibrio vulnificus, which can be found in oysters or crabs. Typically food poisoning is evident when uncooked, or unprepared food is eaten.

The symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, transmitted usually by eating beef from animals with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, mad cow disease), are different from bacterial food poisoning and only appear after many years; the disease is fatal after symptoms appear.

Tetrodotoxin poisoning from reef fish and other animals manifests rapidly as numbness and shortness of breath, and is often fatal.

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