What is listeria?

Bacterium: Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that occasionally causes food-borne infections, or may involve the placenta around the time of birth in humans and animals.

Listeria: Although entering the body almost always via the foodborne route, listeria can cause serious, life-threatening infection of the meninges especially in persons with immune defects such as from cancer chemotherapy and organ transplantation. In pregnant women, it can infect the placenta and the fetus and cause death of the fetus.