Incidence of Listeria monocytogenes in Nature

Detection and enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes in a sewage treatment plant in Iraq

“…Thus, the possibility of the recovery and multiplication of Listeria, when applying sewage sludge cake as an agricultural fertilizer on land is evident. Multiplication in soil was reported by Botzler et al (1974) and, moreover, Weis & Seeliger (1975) showed that high numbers of L. monocytogenes were present in the surface soil of fields.…”

“…Listeria monocytogenes, which causes listeriosis in man and animals, is widely distributed in nature (Gray 1957) and is world-wide in its distribution (Buxton & Fraser 1977). It can be found in soils and plants (Welshimer & Donker-Voet 1971;Botzler et al 1974), on vegetation and in agricultural areas (Welshimer 1968), animals and poultry, fish and fish products (Buxton & Fraser 1977), milk (Gitter et al 1980), surface waters (Watkins & Sleath 1981;Dijkstra 1982). Watkins & Sleath (1981) considered that its presence should be regarded as a matter of public health concern.…”

“…Moreover, Al-Azawi (1982) showed that L. monocytogenes survives in stored sewage sludge cake for at least 13 months and concluded that these organisms do not die during lengthy storage. It has been suggested by Weis & Seeliger (1975), that L. monocytogenes is a saprophytic organism which lives in a plantsoil environment and can therefore be acquired by man and animals by many possible routes and from many sources, of which disposal of sewage sludge onto land could be a major source.…”

Isolation and Enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes from Sewage, Sewage Sludge and River Water

“…Welshimer (1960) demonstrated that L. rnonocytogenes could survive in soil for up to 295 d, and also isolated the organism from vegetation (Welshimer 1968). Weis (1975) isolated 170 strains of L. monocytogenes from 779 samples of soil and vegetation, and of 90 strains tested, 30 were pathogenic for mice. He concluded that L. monocytogenes is capable of a saprophytic existence in plant-soil environments.…”

Minimum growth temperatures of Listeria monocytogenes and non‐haemolytic listeria

“…Since its first isolation in 1911 (Hulphers 1911), it has been isolated from a variety of natural environments including soil, vegetation and water both from farms and non-agricultural lands (Welshimer & Donker-Voet 1971; Weis & Seeliger 1975; Watkins & Sleath 1981;Fenlon 1985). It has also been cultured from both healthy and diseased humans and a variety of animal species (Gray & Killinger 1966;Bojsen-Msller 1972;Filice et al 1978).…”