mild cases are rarely diagnosed and people usually get better on their own.
However, the infection is a much bigger concern among certain groups of people who are more vulnerable to getting severely sick, including pregnant people and their newborns, adults over age 65, and individuals who have weakened immune systems. These groups are more prone to invasive listeriosis, a serious and potentially life-threatening form of the infection that spreads beyond the digestive system to other areas or systems of the body, like the joints or bloodstream, causing severe illness and complications.
Invasive listeriosis may trigger a fever and muscle aches, as well as symptoms like confusion, stiff neck, loss of balance, and convulsions, according to the CDC. It’s a little different in pregnant individuals, though. While they may only experience mild flu-like symptoms, like fatigue and muscle ache, the illness can cause severe pregnancy complications or life-threatening sickness in fetuses and newborns, the CDC says. Invasive listeriosis typically requires hospitalization and antibiotic treatment.
If you have a bag of salad with one of the affected product names, check for the best if used by date and lot code (located on the upper right corner of the front of the bag), as well as the UPC code (located on the lower-left corner on the back of the bag). The FDA recall notice includes the exact lot codes and UPC codes, as well as photos of the affected products. If you have salads stamped with matching codes, throw them away.