- Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) has been responsible for several outbreaks of foodborne illness domestically.
- Each year approximately 2500 people become seriously ill due to Lm infections.
- Nearly 500 of these die from their infection.
- Listeriosis only accounts for about 0.02% of illnesses due to foodborne disease, but it causes 27.6% of all deaths due to foodborne infection.