Enteric disease testing is done all over the world, especially in regions such as the United States, Singapore, and Italy. Enteric disease testing is done to understand the presence of viruses, bacteria, and parasites, which can cause intestinal illness. Other, non-diseased, enteric conditions include typhoid, poliomyelitis, and paratyphoid. Although these other enteric conditions don't always cause diarrhea, they all share many of the same diagnostic tools to address diarrhea and, in so doing, share some of the same methods for treatment.
In acute gastroenteritis and severe enteric illness, stomach fluids may be microscopically visible in the breath but, in most cases, the enteric illness goes undiagnosed unless odors are detected in stool or blood. Some enteric illness has a distinctive odor, such as severe chicken poisoning or dysentery. These odors are usually recognized on testing the water used for drinking by patients with acute gastroenteritis or severe enteric illness. In this way, odors may serve as early enteric disease testing for certain enteric pathogens.
Symptoms of suspected food poisoning include nausea or vomiting, loss of appetite, loss of weight, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, chronic diarrhea, or recurrent fever. Such persons should be seen by a doctor, who may conclude that the symptoms are caused by food poisoning, rather than by another cause. Tasting of an unknown fluid in the mouth, on its own, is not considered to be enough to establish the diagnosis of food poisoning. If, however, the fluid appears odorless when tasted, a diagnosis of colitis can be made.