Listeriosis is an illness usually caused by eating foods contaminated with the bacteria known as Listeria Monocytogenes. Listeriosis is a serious disease in pregnant women, unborn babies and newborns or those with immunosuppression. Although rare it is often fatal.

The time between infection and symptoms (incubation period), varies but on average is about 3weeks. Infection may cause septicaemia, meningitis, and miscarriage in pregnant women.

Early symptoms of Listeriosis include: fever, lethargy, muscle aches, and sometimes nausea and diarrhoea. When severe, symptoms may include collapse & shock. If the infection spreads to the Central Nervous System (CNS), symptoms may include: Headache, neck stiffness, confusion, loss of balance, convulsions and coma. Infection during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infection of the newborn.

People who are at risk of listeriosis, contract the illness by eating contaminated foods. High risk foods include ready to eat seafood eg smoked fish, oysters or mussels, raw seafood including sushi and sushimi, prepacked raw fruit or veges, pate, deli meats, ready to eat chicken, unpasteurised milk, soft serve icecream, thick shakes, soft cheeses (ricotta, brie, camembert, feta, goats cheese), tofu.

How to Reduce Risk:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                
~ Avoid high risk foods
~ Wash hands, knives, chopping boards with warm soapy water before adn after handling raw foods
~ Keep separate chopping boards for meats & veges
~ Keep fridge clean
~ Wash fruit, veges and herbs before using them
~ wrap or cover food to prevent contamination
~ Cook foods thoroughly
~ Reheat any leftovers until steaming hot or avoid reheating altogether
~ Refrigerate as soon as cool enough to touch
~ Throw out food left at room temperature for long periods
~ Defrost frozens in the microwave, not on the bench

Disclaimer: 
This is an information website only, based on my experiences and information I have obtained through my own readings, discussions and related to topics of interest to me. For further information, I suggest you do your own research. There are differing opinions on some topics so some websites may give conflicting information and currency of information may change over time. For medical advice, I suggest you contact your healthcare provider.