27 sickened including 11 pregnancies in two outbreaks of Listeria, Northern Spain 2013

In the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain (≈700,000 inhabitants), 7–12 episodes of human listeriosis were recorded annually during 2009–2012. However, during January 2013–February 2014, 27 episodes were detected, including 11 pregnancy-associated cases.

amy.pregnant.listeriaAll cases produced sepsis in the patients, except 1 case that produced diarrheal disease in a 34-year-old parturient woman who had undergone a splenectomy. Eleven episodes (40.7%) occurred in pregnant or parturient women, and 8 of the children of these patients were affected: 5 newborns (4 of them premature infants) became ill, 2 pregnancies ended in miscarriage, and 1 infant was stillborn.

Fifteen cases in 2 epidemiologically unrelated outbreaks were caused by a rare type of Listeria monocytogenes, sequence type 87 serotype 1/2b. 

Emerging Infectious Diseases, Volume 20, Number 12—December 2014 [ahead of print]

Pérez-Trallero E, Zigorraga C, Artieda J, Alkorta M, Marimón JM

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/12/14-0993_article

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time