Recent news reports talk about a Listeria outbreak. The experts believe this outbreak is linked to fresh cantaloupe. So what’s listeria? Who is at risk for Listeria?
Listeria (Listeriosis is the medical term) is one type of food poisoning caused by a germ called Listeria monocytogenes. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1600 Americans become seriously ill and 260 will die from this form of food poisoning each year.
People at highest risk include pregnant women and the unborn child they carry, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. The unborn child of a woman infected with listeriosis may become very ill, even life threatening. This danger includes miscarriage, stillbirth or premature labor and delivery.
People with compromised immune systems include people who have received organ transplants, people taking medications which suppress their immune systems, people who have cancer, liver or kidney disease, diabetes, or alcoholism and people with HIV/AIDS. The elderly and people with compromised immune systems are in danger of severe symptoms and possibly death.
Most healthy people who become infected with the listeria germ deal with the symptoms and then recover. http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/listeriosis/
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