Seriously scary stuff – listeriosis

Since the news about the cause of listeriosis has broken, it has been on every one’s lips (excuse the pun).

South Africa is in the midst of what is believed to be the largest listeriosis outbreak of all time. At least 915 cases of the infection have been confirmed, and 172 people have died since the start of the outbreak early last year. As far as I know there is no known cure for this disease.

Fortunately health officials have managed to find the source of the outbreak – producers of certain processed-meat products such as cold meats, polony and viennas. This has caused panic, especially among parents, and I don’t blame them. Have you ever googled the ingredients of polony and viennas? It’s really disgusting.

This potentially fatal food-borne illness caused by food that is contaminated with the listeria bacteria, causes diarrhoea, stomach pain, nausea, fever and flu-like symptoms. It can even cause headaches, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions if the nervous system is affected.

Although it is usually not fatal in healthy adults, it could be in the elderly, children, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems. In pregnant women, these bacteria can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and pre-term delivery.

This is seriously scary stuff.

However, if the first patients had been diagnosed early in 2017, why were we not informed – or were we?

Is this outbreak enough for you to become a vegetarian?

What are your thoughts regarding these bacteria? Do you know of someone who has been infected? Do you think the health department is doing enough to inform, warn and eradicate listeriosis?

Let us know by sending an email with your comments to roelienv@caxton.co.za.

Until next week, take care of one another.

Ciao