Listeriosis
Description General measures Medicine treatment Referral A32.0-1/A32.7-9 Note: If you have any questions or concerns, visit http://www.nicd.ac.za/ or call the NCID hotline on 082 883 9920 DESCRIPTION Listeriosis is a preventable and treatable bacterial disease spread through food. Most listerial infections are sporadic but outbreaks do occur. Pregnancy is a predisposing factor for dev
Description
General measures
Medicine treatment
Referral
A32.0-1/A32.7-9
Note: If you have any questions or concerns, visit http://www.nicd.ac.za/ or call the NCID hotline on 082 883 9920
DESCRIPTION
Listeriosis is a preventable and treatable bacterial disease spread through food. Most listerial infections are sporadic but outbreaks do occur. Pregnancy is a predisposing factor for developing serious Listeriosis.
Patients present with a flu-like illness (with fever). They may also have sore joints, backache, diarrhoea and vomiting, and/or signs of meningitis (headache, neck stiffness, confusion).
Listeriosis has been added to the national list of notifiable diseases.
GENERAL MEASURES
Educate your patients on how to prevent it: wash hands, knives, and cutting boards after handling uncooked food, avoid luncheon meats/delicatessen meats, wash raw vegetables thoroughly, avoid unpasteurised milk, thoroughly cook raw food from animal sources.
MEDICINE TREATMENT
During outbreaks, if signs of meningitis are present, give pre-referral treatment (see: Acute Meningitis).
LoE:IVb28
REFERRAL
All cases.
Click here to access the pdf.
Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List for South Africa, Primary Healthcare, 2025-9_Version 1.0_26 March 2026
Chapter 6: Obstetrics and Gynaecology_6.4.6 Listeriosis