Prevention of foodborne listeriosis.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that can cause serious invasive illness, mainly in certain well-defined high-risk groups, including elderly and immunocompromised patients, pregnant women, newborns and infants. L. monocytogenes primarily causes abortion, septicemia or meningitis. Contaminated meats (such as hot dogs, delicatessen meats and patiota), dairy products and seafood have all been implicated in outbreaks of listeriosis. The public health importance of listeriosis is not always recognized, particularly because listeriosis is a relatively rare disease compared with other common foodborne illnesses such as salmonellosis or botulism. However, because of its high case fatality rate, listeriosis ranks among the most frequent causes of death due to foodborne illness, ranking second after salmonellosis. L. monocytogenes emerged as an important foodborne pathogen in the latter part of the 20th century. Extensive work has been performed in many countries during the last decade to prevent outbreaks and decrease the incidence of listeriosis. An important reduction occurred in listeriosis incidence in some of these countries during the 90s, suggesting a relationship between preventive measures and incidence decrease of human listeriosis.