Listeriosis

Listeriosis is a bacterial infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes, described in the sources as a Gram-positive, facultative intracellular pathogen and Gram-positive bacillus ^[1][3]. The organism is reported to have a natural habitat in soil and to occur widely in food, linking the disease to environmental and foodborne exposure ^[3]. It is characterized in the sources as a cause of severe invasive infection after ingestion of contaminated food ^[1][3].

The clinical spectrum in the sources includes bacteremia, septicemia, meningitis, meningoencephalitis, neurolisteriosis, and maternal-fetal infection ^[1][2][4]. In pregnancy, reported manifestations include maternal fever, premature delivery, fetal loss, miscarriage, and neonatal systemic or central nervous system infection ^[2][1]. Older source material also notes abortion, neonatal death, and meningitis among common presentations, underscoring the invasive and potentially life-threatening nature of disease ^[4][1]. One review states that invasive listeriosis is life-threatening ^[1].

The sources describe listeriosis as rare and severe, but also as a main cause of foodborne illness leading to hospital admissions in Western countries ^[2][1]. It has been implicated in several outbreaks of foodborne disease, and contamination sources can be traced using international surveillance systems and strain genetic data sharing ^[1][4]. Reported risk concentration includes pregnant women, their fetuses, immunocompromised persons, and, more generally, very young and very old patients ^[4][3]. Maternal listeriosis is reported mainly in the second and third trimesters and may occur as sporadic cases or in outbreaks ^[2].

Transmission is foodborne, with infection occurring after ingestion of contaminated food ^[1]. The cited sources specifically identify soft cheeses, other dairy products, meat products, seafood, and vegetables as principal or common exposure sources ^[3][4]. No source-backed detail is available here on person-to-person transmission outside maternal-fetal spread or on persistence of infectivity in the environment.

The sources identify pregnant women, their fetuses, and neonates as major affected groups, and also note increased risk among immunocompromised persons ^[4][3]. Very young and very old patients are also listed as particular risk groups in one scholarly metadata source ^[3]. Maternal-neonatal disease is highlighted as a distinct clinical context, with hypervirulent clonal complexes 1, 4, and 6 reported as most associated with these infections ^[2].

The sources support prevention through food safety and contamination control, including attention to implicated foods such as soft cheeses, other dairy products, meat products, seafood, and vegetables ^[3][4]. They also indicate that surveillance and source tracing can be strengthened by international foodborne-bacteria surveillance systems, genetic data sharing, and strain-typing methods ^[1][4]. No source-backed detail is available here on specific consumer advisories, processing controls, or vaccination.

In surveillance, listeriosis should be interpreted as an invasive foodborne infection with outbreak potential and substantial hospitalization burden in some settings ^[1][2]. Case finding and source attribution are supported by strain typing, DNA-based methods, and broader genetic data sharing across surveillance systems ^[4][1]. Maternal and neonatal cases merit particular attention because pregnancy-associated disease is repeatedly emphasized in the sources as a clinically important presentation ^[2][1].

1. 1 Koopmans MM et al. Human Listeriosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2023 Mar 23. PMID: 36475874. doi: 10.1128/cmr.00060-19. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36475874/
2. 2 Charlier C et al. Maternal-neonatal listeriosis. Virulence. 2020 Dec. PMID: 32363991. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2020.1759287. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32363991/
3. 3 Listeriosis. Oxford Textbook of Medicine. 2010. doi: 10.1093/med/9780199204854.003.070637_update_003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780199204854.003.070637_update_003
4. 4 Farber JM et al. Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne pathogen. Microbiol Rev. 1991 Sep. PMID: 1943998. doi: 10.1128/mr.55.3.476-511.1991. PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1943998/
5. 5 Listeriosis. Feigin and Cherry's Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 2025. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-323-82763-8.00095-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-82763-8.00095-9
6. 6 Listeriosis. Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41572-025-00654-x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-025-00654-x

ICD-10

ICD-11

Total cases

6K

Peak month

2023-01

Coverage

6 reporting countries · 2000-01-01 → 2026-06-20