Babies, older people and people with a weakened immune system are particularly at risk.
The facts
- These bacteria may cause flu-like illness with diarrhoea in pregnant women, but may also cause premature labour and neonatal meningitis.
- A baby with a Listeria infection will usually be unwell from the time of birth, although late onset disease is also recognised
- Very few cases of Listeria meningitis now occur each year in the UK. This is the result of a successful education campaign warning about the dangers of eating certain foods during pregnancy