Listeria surveillance in Australia from the laboratory perspective

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes surveillance requires robust laboratory support in detection and organism characterisation. Such laboratory support includes ensuring all relevant isolates are secured and uniformly typed to allow detection of clusters and attribution to potential source. Different typing have different strengths. The move toward sequencing of the whole genome and its subsequent analysis although presenting new challenges to laboratories and practitioners receiving the outputs alike is proving of great utility by providing information of genetic distance between isolates. Australia has established surveillance integrating laboratory typing with epidemiological information relating to human cases. Extending this model to include the potential sources of L. monocytogenes does and has led to early detection of sources thus mitigating the risk to all stakeholders and vulnerable consumers.