Nickname: Listeria

Morphology: Tiny gram-positive rod

Habitat: Lives in cold, moist environments – even in the refrigerator, where you think your food is safe

Disease or illness: Causes only a minor flu-like illness in adults but is dangerous to pregnant women because it can be passed on to the unborn baby and cause a very serious disease in the baby

Who is at risk: Pregnant women and their unborn babies

Avoidance techniques: Heat ready-to-eat processed meats (lunch meat) before eating and Listeria will be killed.

“I’m no fool, I grow where it’s cool”