Listeria refers a bacterium that takes a "gram-positive,” rod-like shape with the capabilities of developing on either anaerobic, (the conditions deprived of oxygen) or aerobic (where there is oxygen). The bacteria has several effects on human and of its six different species, L. monocytogenes is the one that causes illness among people (Clark, 2016). Listeria is more harmful to the human compared to the others since it can get into foods and survive even at the refrigerator temperatures. Its survival at extremely low temperatures is what is used in differentiating it to other types of bacteria.
Listeria is reported to have caused several invasive illnesses. The reports from the United States, Europe and other parts of the world states that the bacteria has raised public health concern due to the foodborne diseases that result from the L. monocytogenes (Nyachuba, 2011). Humans get infected by these bacteria through the consumption of the vegetables. When the outbreak of the illness that had led to the infection of nine individuals occurred, one person from the victim family got interviewed in March 2016 by the state and the local health department about the food, the individual could have eaten (CDC, 2016). Other four patients and the caregivers also got interviewed, and three of these individuals stated that the disease began when they had bought and ate frozen vegetables while other two reported that they had consumed an organic food by Nature Brand frozen vegetables.
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The illnesses that result from Listeria also results in the loss of the lives. Among the nine people from the four states who got hospitalized during the outbreak of the Listeria since September 13, 2016, four have died, and one was confirmed to have died of the bacteria in Connecticut (Haase et al., 2014). The bacteria thus cause the deaths of individuals.
Further, the bacteria can also affect human through the recalled products. Some people can still acquire the illnesses of the disease from recalled products found in the freezers and for the people who do not have the knowledge about the recalls can still eat them. Other retailers can also sell these products to consumers and through this; they may end up passing the bacteria to the innocent consumers.
In conclusion, Listeria is a dangerous bacterium that can withstand extreme temperatures. Consumers of frozen vegetables need to take precautions to avoid this bacterium. Also, recalled products have been found to contain Listeria, and can get into the body by consuming such products. If no measures are taken Listeria could result in more deaths.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC. (July 15, 2016). Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Linked to Frozen Vegetables (Final Update) . Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/frozen-vegetables-05-16/.
Clark, M. (2016). Listeria Food Poisoning. Retrieved from http://www.about-listeria.com/.
Haase, J. K., Didelot, X., Lecuit, M., Korkeala, H., & Achtman, M. (2014). The ubiquitous nature of Listeria monocytogenes clones: a large ‐ scale Multilocus Sequence Typing study. Environmental microbiology , 16 (2), 405-416.
Nyachuba, D. G. (2011). Foodborne illness: is it on the rise? Nutrition Reviews , 68 (5), 257-269.
