Listeria monocytogenes is a potentially deadly bacterium. This food-borne pathogen has an amazing ability to survive in a wide range of extreme environments, including highly acidic and salty surroundings. It can also survive and multiply at temperatures from 2°C to 45°C. The higher temperature would kill most bacteria. This talent for survival makes listeria a dangerous pathogen and also an interesting organism for microbiologists to study.
Many different foods have been found to carry listeria, including meat, fish, vegetables, cheese and ice-cream. Its remarkable survival capacity means that listeria can withstand food processing and storage and so end up on your plate! Infection with listeria can cause a disease called listeriosis. Figure 1 shows foods that have caused outbreaks of listeriosis and the numbers of people known to have become infected or to have died.
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