History
L. monocytogenes was first described by E.G.D. Murray in 1926 based on six cases of sudden death in young rabbits. Murray referred to the organism as Bacterium monocytogenes before Harvey Pirie changed the genus name to Listeria in 1940. Although clinical descriptions of L. monocytogenes infection in both animals and humans were published in the 1920s, not until 1952 in East Germany was it recognized as a significant cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis. Listeriosis in adults would later be associated with patients living with compromised immune systems, such as individuals taking immunosuppressant drugs and corticosteroids for malignancies or organ transplants, and those with HIV infection.
Not until 1981, however, was L. monocytogenes identified as a cause of foodborne illness. An outbreak of listeriosis in Halifax, Nova Scotia involving 41 cases and 18 deaths, mostly in pregnant women and neonates, was epidemiologically linked to the consumption of coleslaw containing cabbage that had been treated with L. monocytogenes-contaminated raw sheep manure. Since then, a number of cases of foodborne listeriosis have been reported, and L. monocytogenes is now widely recognized as an important hazard in the food industry.
Read more about this topic: Listeria Monocytogenes
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