On the other hand, there are only 1 million cases of food-borne illnesses reported due to Salmonella every year.

According to the study, it costs an exorbitant amount of $64.5 billion a year in healthcare and absenteeism due to food-borne illnesses.

People need to be aware about the symptoms of food-borne illnesses to make up for the remaining amount of $60.3 billion.

Norovirus infections go unnoticed because people are unaware about the symptoms.

Senior author Bruce Y.
Lee, a professor at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health explained, "Norovirus has been around for a while.
People tend to latch on to what is new and overlook what has been right in front of them, even if what is front of them can be a serious problem.
The disease is often underreported.
People suffer in relative silence without getting tested.
Some organizations or businesses may be reluctant to report norovirus cases because they think it may turn away customers."

Still very few people learn that they had norovirus unless it is a very serious case.

Lee further explained, "Each year we see norovirus outbreaks that potentially could have been avoided or better contained.
For example, better hygiene, keeping employees who are sick at home, and improved food safety can prevent restaurant outbreaks.
This, in turn, could have saved considerable productivity losses."

Some common symptoms of this horrible food poisoning include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or cramps, watery or loose diarrhea, malaise, low-grade fever and muscle pain.

But patients remain contagious for next 48 hours even after the treatment.

Share this important information with everyone you care.