Listeriosis in animals, its public health significance (food-borne zoonosis) and advances in diagnosis and control: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Listeriosis is an infectious and fatal disease of animals, birds, fish, crustaceans and humans. It is an important food-borne zoonosis caused by Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular pathogen with unique potential to spread from cell to cell, thereby crossing blood-brain, intestinal and placental barriers. The organism possesses a pile of virulence factors that help to infect the host and evade from host immune machinery. Though disease occurrence is sporadic throughout the world, it can result in severe damage during an outbreak. Listeriosis is characterized by septicaemia, encephalitis, meningitis, meningoencephalitis, abortion, stillbirth, perinatal infections and gastroenteritis with the incubation period varying with the form of infection. L. monocytogenes has been isolated worldwide from humans, animals, poultry, environmental sources like soil, river, decaying plants, and food sources like milk, meat and their products, seafood and vegetables. Since appropriate vaccines are not available and infection is mainly transmitted through foods in humans and animals, hygienic practices can prevent its spread. The present review describes etiology, epidemiology, transmission, clinical signs, post-mortem lesions, pathogenesis, public health significance, and advances in diagnosis, vaccines and treatment of this disease. Special attention has been given to novel as well as prospective emerging therapies that include bacteriophage and cytokine therapy, avian egg yolk antibodies and herbal therapy. Various vaccines, including advances in recombinant and DNA vaccines and their modes of eliciting immune response, are also discussed. Due focus has also been given regarding appropriate prevention and control strategies to be adapted for better management of this zoonotic disease.

Listeria monocytogenes in Export-approved Beef from Mato Grosso, Brazil: Prevalence, Molecular Characterization and Resistance to Antibiotics and Disinfectants

“…Animal-source food has been implicated in many of the clinical cases of listeriosis in humans. The presence of LM has already been described in milk, cheese, meat, fish and sausage [3][4][5]. A characteristic trait of LM that increases its odds to persist in food processing environments even after sequential cleaning and disinfection measures is the ability to produce biofilms, which protects the bacterium from the action of disinfectants.…”

Antimicrobial activity of three essential oils (cinnamon, manuka, and winter savory), and their synergic interaction, against Listeria monocytogenes

“…The potential synergistic activity of these three EOs was tested against Listeria monocytogenes , which is responsible for infections in numerous animal species and represents an important foodborne pathogen . Moreover, in previous studies all of these EOs, employed alone, showed effective activity against Listeria monocytogenes …”

The Current Status of the Alternative Use to Antibiotics in Poultry Production: An African Perspective

“…Moreover, Molla et al, Saminathan et al reported that herbs like black pepper have shown to be alternative growth promoters without adversely affecting broilers performance [ 104 , 105 ]. Whereas other researchers reported that cineol and eucalyptol of eucalyptus and garlic extracts have the ability to prevent infectious disease, relax bird’s air sac by providing proper air circulation and improve their growth [ 106 , 107 , 108 ].…”