In France, two adults died in August from Listeriosis disease after they had eaten cheese contaminated with the Listeriabacteria. In the Netherlands, too, someone was infected with the bacterium, the European Center for Sickness Prevention and Fighting (ECDC) reported Tuesday. Six questions about Listeriosis.
1How dangerous is this bacterium, and for whom?
The bacterium that causes listeriosis is officially called Listeria Monocytogenes. According to the ECDC, eighteen infection were reported in France in the course of June. Of those eighteen infections, eleven victims were woman. That is no coincidence: in general, healthy people usually don’t get sick from the bacteria, but the elderly, young children and pregnant women usually have a lower resistance. Those groups can indeed become seriously ill and even die from the bacterium. For pregnant women there is also an extra risk: they can get a miscarriage or the baby can be born too early.
2Where do these infections come from?
The Listeria bacteria was found in France in various soft cheeses with a fungal breast, including Camembert, Goat cheese, Gorgonzola and Brie. In France, more than forty deliveries of cheese were recalled. There is no recall yet in the Netherlands. According to Eelco Franz, department head of the Epidemiology department and surveillance of gastrointestinal infections and zoonosis at the RIVM, because the infected French cheese has only been exported to the Netherlands to a very limited extent. It is not yet clear whether the infected person in the Netherlands fell ill from French cheese or from another product.
The ECDC does current epidemiological, microbiological and tracing studies into the bacterium in animal products. This time the research into pasteurized cow and goat cheese from France points. In Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, one infection per country was reported last month.
3In which products can the listeria bacteria occur and how likely is that?
Listeria Monocytogenes can mainly be found in long -term cooled preserved products that are eaten without heating. Risk products are raw milk soft cheeses, pre -packaged smoked fish, pre -packaged meats and raw animal products such as milk or red meat.
In the Netherlands, four in one million people receive a Listeria infection every year. Listeriosis is mainly in the Netherlands in people who are over 65 years old. Every year the RIVM receives around 85 reports from patients with an infection.
Supermarket chains Albert Heijn and Plus shouted different types of herring fillet with onions in August due to possible contamination with the bacterium. Contamination of pasteurized soft cheese is rarer according to the ECDC.
4Can you check for yourself whether the bacterium is in something?
No, Listeria cannot be seen, smell or taste. The bacterium does not change the appearance, the odor or taste of a product, not even if it is infected. In addition, the bacterium can survive well and even grow in the fridge.
It Nutrition center Advises to adjust the temperature of the refrigerator to four degrees and to place susceptible products in the refrigerator immediately after use. The bacterium does not tolerate very high tempratures, above 75 degrees Celsius. Cooking, baking and roasting, the Listeriabacteria kills.
According to Franz of the RIVM, it is not necessary to radically remove all French cheeses from the cheese board in the coming period. “People who know that they run an increased risk must be continuously attentive to this type of animal -packaged products,” says Franz. “The infection in the Netherlands is not too bad, otherwise the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority would have already made a call.”
5What is the disease?
A contamination with Listeria can express itself in different ways. With gastroenteritis, a gastrointestinal infection better known as stomach flu, the incubation time is short. Complaints such as vomiting, diarrhea and nausea will occur within 24 hours.
“That form of stomach flu is often over before it can be thought of Listeria,” says Franz. The majority of the Listeriabes making is therefore not registered. “It only becomes dangerous in people with underlying suffering, for them the bacterium is relatively deadly.”
With invasive listeriosis, the bacteria slowly spreads through the body. The incubation time can vary from eight days to four weeks in pregnant women. All the while the bacterium has free play in the body. This can have serious consequences, such as severe fever, a meningitis and in rare cases a fatal outcome.
Although pregnant women have a higher risk of becoming sick after contamination, it also applies to this group that this is a rare infectious disease. If a pregnant woman gets sick from Listeria, it is possible that the unborn child is also infected. Complaints are then main, back, joint and muscle pain and a strong fever. Sometimes these symptoms are preceded by stomach flu -like symptoms, such as diarrhea. This is especially the case if the pregnant woman in the third trimester (six to nine months) falls ill.
6How is it possible that two people were killed in France?
That is a coincidence in this case, Franz suspects. “It is mainly to whom it affects and whether the person already has other underlying suffering. Then it can go fast.” In the Netherlands the bacterium is most common in packaged fish, in France most of the reports of soft cheeses. “That can be explained because it simply eats more of it. The Dutch eat more fish, French more cheese.”