While You're Pregnant - Listeria
Listeria monocytogenes is a harmful bacterium that can be found in:

• Refrigerated, ready-to-eat foods
  
  • Meat
  • Poultry
  • Seafood
  • Dairy - unpasteurized milk and milk products or foods made with unpasteurized milk
• Soil

Animals can carry this bacterium without appearing ill, so it can be found in foods made from animals.

Listeria monocytogenes is unusual because it can grow at refrigerator temperatures where most other foodborne bacteria do not. When eaten, it may cause listeriosis, an illness to which pregnant women and their unborn children are very susceptible.

You can also get listeriosis by eating contaminated foods processed or packaged in unsanitary conditions or by eating vegetables that are contaminated from the soil or from manure used as fertilizer.

The symptoms can take a few days or even weeks to appear and may include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Muscle aches
• Diarrhea or upset stomach
• Headache
• Stiff neck
• Confusion
• Loss of balance

In more serious cases, listeriosis could also lead to the mother's death.

Most of the time, pregnant women who are infected with listeriosis don't feel sick. They can pass the infection to their unborn babies without even knowing it. That's why prevention of listeriosis is very important. If you experience any of the above symptoms, see your doctor immediately.

During the first trimester of pregnancy, listeriosis may cause miscarriage. As the pregnancy progresses to third trimester, the mother is more at risk.

Listeriosis can also lead to premature labor, the delivery of a low-birth-weight infant, or infant death.

Fetuses who suffer a late infection may develop a wide range of health problems, including:

• Mental retardation
• Paralysis
• Seizures
• Blindness
• Impairments of the brain, heart, or kidney.

In newborns, Listeria monocytogenes can cause blood infections and meningitis.

Listeriosis Can Be Prevented:

• Your refrigerator should register at 40° F (4° C) or below and the freezer at 0° F (-18° C). Place a refrigerator thermometer in the refrigerator, and check the temperature periodically. During the automatic defrost cycle, the temperature may register slightly higher than 40° F. This is okay.
• Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared food, and leftovers within two hours of eating or preparation. Follow the 2 Hour Rule: Discard food that's left out at room temperature for longer than two hours. When temperatures are above 90° F (32° C), discard food after one hour.
• Use ready-to-eat, perishable foods, such as dairy, meat, poultry, seafood, and produce, as soon as possible.

Fridge TIPS

• Clean your refrigerator regularly.
• Wipe up spills immediately.
• Clean the inside walls and shelves with hot water and a mild liquid dishwashing detergent, then rinse.
• Once a week, check expiration and "use by" dates, and throw out foods if the date has passed. Follow the recommended storage times for foods.

Don't Eat:

• Hot dogs and luncheon meats - unless they're reheated until steaming hot.
• Soft cheeses like Feta, Brie, and Camembert, "blue-veined cheeses," or "queso blanco," "queso fresco," or Panela - unless they are made with pasteurized milk. Make sure the label says, "made with pasteurized milk."
• Refrigerated pâtés or meat spreads.
• Refrigerated smoked seafood - unless it's in a cooked dish, such as a casserole. (Refrigerated smoked seafood, such as salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna, or mackerel is most often labeled as "nova-style," "lox," "kippered," "smoked," or "jerky." These types of fish are found in the refrigerator section or sold at deli counters of grocery stores and delicatessens.)
• Raw (unpasteurized) milk or foods that contain unpasteurized milk.

Okay to eat:

• Canned or shelf-stable (able to be stored unrefrigerated on the shelf) pâtés and meat spreads.
• Canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood.
• Pasteurized milk or foods that contain pasteurized milk.

Source - www.fda.gov