ABSTRACT
Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) causes invasive listeriosis, as well as gastroenteritis. Invasive listeriosis is associated with septicemia, meningitis, abortion, and death, resulting in a high mortality rate of 20-30%. Gastroenteritis caused by Lm with diarrhea, nausea, and fever. Due to the high morbidity and mortality associated with invasive listeriosis, the public health burden of Lm is high, resulting in estimated costs in the billions. Invasive listeriosis is caused by consuming foods contaminated with Lm, so preventing Lm-contaminated foods from reaching the consumer is key to reducing its impact on public health. The ability to detect Lm in food or environmental samples, collected during inspections, outbreaks, or routine monitoring, is critical. multiple methods for detection of Lm exist., These detection methods can be broadly divided into culture-dependent and culture- independent and a combination of both. Understanding the basic principles underlying these methods and the benefits and disadvantages to these methods is key to selecting the best approach to determine if a particular sample contains Lm. This chapter reviews methods currently available for the detection of Lm from food and environmental samples to aid the investigator in these decisions, as well as discuss key disadvantages that should be considered when interpreting results.
