Statement on listeria and pregnancy

NEW RELEASE

PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA

************************* Listeria - protecting your pregnancy

OTTAWA, ONTARIO - (Aug. 30, 2008) - Recent news about an outbreak of listeria may have raised concerns about your pregnancy and the safety of the food you eat.

Listeriosis is a rare but serious infection that is caused by consuming a type of bacterium called Listeria monocytogenes (commonly called listeria) that is sometimes found in food, water and soil.

Pregnant women are at far greater risk of developing listeriosis than most adults.

A woman who develops listeriosis during the first three months of pregnancy may miscarry.

If she develops the infection later in the pregnancy, she can pass the infection onto her fetus, resulting in premature delivery, stillbirth or a very sick newborn.

When a listeriosis infection occurs during pregnancy, antibiotics given promptly to the pregnant woman can often prevent infection of the fetus or newborn.

To protect yourself from listeria or other disease-causing bacteria, pregnant women should avoid:

- Non-dried deli meats including cold cuts, hot dogs and smoked salmon, and undercooked meat, poultry, and seafood.

- Raw, unpasteurised milk and dairy products, or foods made from it such as raw milk cheese, particularly soft and semi-soft cheeses such as Brie or Camembert.

- Raw sprouts, especially alfalfa sprouts.

- Raw fish, especially shellfish such as oysters and clams.

- Foods made with raw or lightly cooked eggs (for example, homemade Caesar vinaigrette).

- Unpasteurized juices, such as unpasteurized apple cider.

In addition, always cook raw food from animal sources well (such as beef and poultry), keep uncooked meats separate from other foods, wash hands, cooking utensils and cooking surfaces well after handling uncooked food, and wash raw vegetables (especially pre-cut and ready-to-eat vegetables) thoroughly before eating.

You can check the listeria food recall list at www.inspection.gc.ca or by calling 1-800-442-2342/TTY 1-800-465-7735.

If there is food that you have doubts about, throw it out or return it to the store.

Testing for listeriosis should only be done on individuals who are displaying symptoms, therefore it is important that if you have a persistent fever with any of the following symptoms that you contact your health care provider immediately:

- nausea - vomiting - headache - constipation - diarrhea - stiff neck

Symptoms usually appear within two to 30 days and up to 70 days after eating contaminated food.

You can learn more about the recent listeriosis outbreak here or by calling 1-800-O-Canada.

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