Detection of Listeria Monocytogenes and Implementation of Listeria Intervention Strategies to Control the Spread of the Organism

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2017 in the subject Medicine - Epidemiology, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: Listeria monocytogenes remains to be one of the most leading causes of food-borne illnesses. It has become a serious problem in food manufacturing plants owing to its food poisoning capability which threatens the health of food products' consumers, especially in the United States where food processing occur at a high magnitude compared to other parts of the world. Stephan and Jemmi (2006) report 'listeriosis ranks among the most frequent causes of death due to food-borne illness. L. monocytogenes infections are responsible for the highest hospitalization rates (91%) amongst known food-borne pathogens and have been linked to sporadic episodes and large outbreaks of human illness worldwide'. This is attributable to its high case fatality, and this is probably the principal reason as to why L. monocytogenes is regarded as one of the most significant food-associated pathogen. This Gram-positive bacterium causes human listeriosis and contamination with L. monocytogenes has been one of the principal microbiological causes of processed food recalls, primary in regard to seafood, poultry, meat and dairy products such as milk and cheese. Research report indicates that the increased pathogenicity of L. monocytogenes is enhanced by its adaptability to food-processing environments. For instance, this bacterium can thrive and multiply under refrigeration conditions. It has also been found to thrive in drains in food processing plants. Moreover, L. monocytogenes ability to form biofilms enhances its colonization, distribution and adaptation to a wide range of environmental conditions including adverse temperatures and PH ranges. Therefore, this paper will discuss the detection and identification of L. monocytogenes, and present comprehensive implementation of Listeria intervention strategies to control contamination of food products with the food-borne pathogen.