Outbreak of Listeriosis in South Africa Associated with Processed Meat

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 382; no. 7; pp. 632 - 643
• Main Authors: Thomas, Juno, Govender, Nevashan, McCarthy, Kerrigan M, Erasmus, Linda K, Doyle, Timothy J, Allam, Mushal, Ismail, Arshad, Ramalwa, Ntsieni, Sekwadi, Phuti, Ntshoe, Genevie, Shonhiwa, Andronica, Essel, Vivien, Tau, Nomsa, Smouse, Shannon, Ngomane, Hlengiwe M, Disenyeng, Bolele, Page, Nicola A, Govender, Nelesh P, Duse, Adriano G, Stewart, Rob, Thomas, Teena, Mahoney, Deon, Tourdjman, Mathieu, Disson, Olivier, Thouvenot, Pierre, Maury, Mylène M, Leclercq, Alexandre, Lecuit, Marc, Smith, Anthony M, Blumberg, Lucille H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 13.02.2020
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Aged; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Case-Control Studies; Clinical isolates; Disease Outbreaks; Epidemics; Epidemiology; Fatalities; Female; Food; Foodborne Diseases - epidemiology; Foodborne Diseases - etiology; Foodborne Diseases - mortality; Genomes; HIV; HIV Infections - complications; HIV-1; Human health and pathology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Illnesses; Infant, Newborn; Infections; Laboratories; Life Sciences; Listeria; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeria monocytogenes - genetics; Listeria monocytogenes - isolation & purification; Listeriosis; Listeriosis - epidemiology; Listeriosis - etiology; Listeriosis - mortality; Male; Meat; Meat products; Meat Products - adverse effects; Meat Products - microbiology; Middle Aged; Multilocus sequence typing; Neonates; Nucleotide sequence; Outbreaks; Phylogenetics; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - epidemiology; Product Recalls and Withdrawals; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Sex Distribution; South Africa - epidemiology; Whole Genome Sequencing; Womens health; Young Adult; South Africa
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1907462

A total of 937 cases of listeriosis associated with consumption of the processed meat polony were identified in South Africa. Pregnant girls and women, neonates, and persons infected with HIV-1 were disproportionately affected. Molecular techniques identified cases associated with this event and the source of the contamination.