Listeria Hysteria

OK, you keep hearing the scary headline about how "viruses" are being used to treat foods in order to kill bacteria that can cause food-borne illness. I wish reporters would stop using the word "virus". Although technically correct, it's causing unnecessary concern.

Let's back up a bit. Listeria Monocytogenes can cause serious bacterial illness in humans, characterized by nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Each year, there are about 2500 cases of "Listeriosis" in the US, resulting in about 500 deaths. A new approach is being taken as a means to reduce the incidence of Listeriosis. It involves a "bacteriophage", an organism that infects and kills bacteria. Technically, bacteriophages fall within the general category of "viruses", but are incapable of infecting humans.

Recently, a bacteriophage has been designed to infect Listeria through thread-like structures called "flagella" (see photo above). Humans have never had and never will have flagella that could be mistaken for Listeria's appendages. The bacteriophage is made specifically to target Listeria, so as not to harm the "good" bacteria that inhabit our digective tracts. I'm hoping that as the correct information comes to light, people will be less leery of this new approach to food safety.