Listeria monocytogenes causes the second most costly foodborne illness, after Salmonella. In pregnant women, Listeria monocytogenes causes an influenza-like illness and septicemia, which may lead to amnionitis and ultimately the infection of the unborn fetus.
It causes encephalitis, meningitis or bacteremia in non-pregnant human adults.
Listeria monocytogenes is widely distributed in the environment and is able to multiply slowly at 4 °C. The shelf life of foods varies enormously.
Certain foods – such as soft ripened cheese, vacuum packed pate, and slice meats – have long ling shelf life under refrigeration and the presence of Listeria monocytogenes at any levels may be significance due to its potential for growth during storage.
Frozen dairy desserts have been implicated in some cases of Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Other foods associated with Listeria outbreaks are contaminated cabbage, pasteurized milk, luncheon meats, and Mexican-style soft cheese.
Listeriosis (Listeria infection) starts insidiously, with headache, low-grade fever, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting and is often mistaken for a viral illness that will cure itself.
Those factors cause treatment delays and allow the disease to progress. Symptoms can appear anywhere from 3 to 70 days after exposure.
Listeria monocytogenes
