Listeria monocytogenes Septicemia Associated with Consumption of Salted Mushrooms

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes septicemia in an 80-year-old man is described. On the day before clinical symptoms appeared the patient had eaten homemade salted mushrooms, rufous milkcap (Lactarius rufus Fr.). L. monocytogenes serotype 4b was isolated in blood cultures. The mushrooms which had been stored in cold for 5 months before consumption contained the same listeria serotype at a level of 10(6) CFU/g. Salt content (NaCl) of the mushrooms was 7.5%. Fever and diarrhea disappeared with penicillin therapy and the patient was discharged after 4 weeks in the hospital.

Catalase, superoxide dismutase, and hemolysin activities and heat susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes after growth in media containing sodium chloride

“…An increase in virulence by some L. monocytogenes strains kept at 4°C has been observed (5,30). These findings coupled with the results of this study might explain the L. monocytogenes septicemia of the elderly man who ate salted mushrooms stored at cold temperature (12). Thus, particular caution may need to be taken in food industries that deal with moderately salted foods stored at cold temperatures under aerobic conditions.…”

A large outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infection with short incubation period in a tertiary care hospital

“…30 30 Juntilla et al describe septicaemia in an elderly man developing only one day after consumption of heavily contaminated, salted mushrooms. 31 Bacterial load, bacterial virulence and host immunity are factors that may influence the outcome of L. monocytogenes infection. 5 The estimated ingested dose in our patients was approximately 1 Â 10 8 microorganisms and this high level exposure in severely immunocompromised patients may account for the short incubation period observed in this outbreak.…”

Diversity of Listeria monocytogenes isolates of human and food origin studied by serotyping, automated ribotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

“…Most of these outbreaks involved invasive infections caused by isolates of serotype 4b [1][2][3][4][7][8][9]11] and 3a [12], but two involved gastrointestinal non-invasive infections with fever caused by serotypes 1 ⁄ 2b [5,10] and 4b [6]. In Finland, listeriosis has been connected only on three occasions to a specific food source, namely salted mushrooms in 1989 [13], rainbow trout in 1998 [14], and butter in 1999 [12]. The serotypes of the causative isolates found in these foodstuffs were 4b, 1 ⁄ 2a and 3a, respectively.…”