LISTERIA

History of Listeria

Table of Contents

Introduction1

History of listeria and its existence2

Listeria in Pregnant Woman3

Treatment and Prevention of Listeria3

Outbreak of listeria in the US4

Conclusion5

References6

History of Listeria

Introduction

Listeria refers to a seven specie bacterial genus. Joseph Lister discovered it for the first time. Hence, it is names after him. The species are gram-positive bacilli. Rare bacterial diseases called listeriosis, are caused by listeria. Any food that is contaminated with the bacteria casues this serious infection. The major human pathogen in the Listeria genus is L. monocytogenes. The disease affects the weak the most. For instance, people who are most affected by the disease include newborns, pregnant woman, the elderly with weak immune system, and weak.

Listeriosis has a 20 percent rate of mortality. It is a serious disease. The two main clinical manifestations are sepsis and meningitis. Meningitis is often complicated by encephalitis, a pathology that is unusual for bacterial infections. Listeria ivanovii is a pathogen of mammals, specifically ruminants, and has rarely caused listeriosis in humans (Gekfand, 2011).

Listeria monocytogenes are bacterium widely spread in nature. Their presence in food is determined by its extensive distribution in the environment like soil, sewage, feces, vegetation, silage and environment of food production. This gives a valuable opportunity to contaminate them. Listeriosis is a food-borne disease that presents as sporadic cases or outbreaks, the literature presents abundant documentation it was possible to establish the transmitter contaminated food. It is an infectious disease caused by rod-shaped bacteria (Listeria).

Listeria monocytogenes are gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria that can multiply aerobically or anaerobically. The culture is best done on blood agar plates. There they form small gray-white colonies, which can be surrounded by a small b-Hamolysezone. Listeria flagella are forming, but not from spore and capsule. In the environment, they are widespread. They are found especially in animal faeces, contaminated water and soil. For most people, they go through the food chain. Approximately 10% of healthy people they are detected in the intestine. Their resistance is relatively large. They are relatively resistant to heat and can even at low temperatures (4° C) to survive (Goldfine, 2007).

History of listeria and its existence

The history of listeria is as old as sixty years. In the early ages when listeria was first diagnosed, it was considered a disease only in 50 species of animals. Listeria caused epidemics and different sporadic cases in them. Today, however, this disease has infected humans as well. Not only that, the infection from listeria can sometimes even cause death in humans. The causative agent Listeria monocytogenes is primarily a psychrophilic soil-borne bacterium with a wide pathogenic potential thus provoking primarily septicemia, meningitis and intrauterine infections (Gekfand, 2011a).

Research on the disease show that there are a certain kind of food items that are prone to transferring the disease from the food to humans. These food items include cream, dairy products, eggs, poultry and meat. These are the major sources of transfer of Listeria in the human body and cause the ...