Bugs Causing Diarrhea and Food Poisoning Bugs Causing Diarrhea and Food Poisoning Bug Transmission Comments Staphylococcus aureus Custards Mayonnaise/potato salad canned meats Canned meats Symptoms start and end quickly Bacillus cereus Reheated rice Food kept warm but not hot Symptoms start and end quickly Clostridium botulinum Canned food Home-canned alkaline vegetables Clostridum perfringens Reheated meat Watery diarrhea Clostridium difficile Endogenous, nosocomial NOTE: not food poisoning Watery diarrhea E. coli (EHEC - no invasion, no WBCs; EIEC - invasion + WBCs) Undercooked meat Contaminated food Fecal-oral Bloody diarrhea E. coli (ETEC) Undercooked meat Contaminated food Fecal-oral Watery diarrhea Legionella pneumophila Contaminated water (especially in smokers) Pneumonia, fever, diarrhea, hyponatremia Salmonella enteridis Chicken products (eggs, raw chicken) Diarrhea may be bloody Shigella dysenteriae Fecal-oral Bloody diarrhea Campylobacter jejuni Poultry Unpasteurized milk Fecal-oral Bloody diarrhea with pus Vibrio cholerae Fecal-oral Watery diarrhea ("rice water stools") Vibrio parahaemolyticus/vulnificus Seafood Sushi (leading cause of diarrhea in Japan) -- Yersinia enterocolitica Contaminated milk Pork Pet feces Bloody diarrhea Brucella Unpasteurized dairy products -- Adenovirus Fecal-oral Watery diarrhea Pediatric Norwalk virus Fecal-oral Watery diarrhea Pediatric Reovirus Fecal-oral -- Rotavirus Fecal-oral Watery diarrhea Infant mortality Giardia lamblia Fecal-oral Watery diarrhea Associated with campers/hikers Entamoeba histolytica Fecal-oral Bloody or watery diarrhea Cryptosporidium Fecal-oral Watery diarrhea Diarrhea in AIDS Taenia solium Pork Intestinal tapeworm, neurocysticercosis Taenia saginata Beef Intestinal tapeworm Diphyllobothrium latum Fish Intestinal tapeworm