A Nosocomial Outbreak of Invasive Listeriosis in An Italian Hospital: Epidemiological and Genomic Features
Valeria Russini,
Martina Spaziante,
Tiziana Zottola,
Anna Giovanna Fermani,
Gina Di Giampietro,
Giovanni Blanco,
Paolo Fabietti,
Riccardo Marrone,
Roberta Parisella,
Sergio Parrocchia,
Teresa Bossù,
Stefano Bilei,
Maria Laura De Marchis
Affiliations
Valeria Russini
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”—Sezione di Roma, 00178 Rome, Italy
Martina Spaziante
Regional Service Surveillance and Control for Infectious Diseases (SERESMI), National Institute for Infectious Diseases “Lazzaro Spallanzani” IRCCS, 00149 Rome, Italy
Tiziana Zottola
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”—Sezione di Latina, 04100 Latina, Italy
Anna Giovanna Fermani
Department of Prevention, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Latina, 04100 Latina, Italy
Gina Di Giampietro
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”—Sezione di Roma, 00178 Rome, Italy
Giovanni Blanco
Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, 04100 Latina, Italy
Paolo Fabietti
Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, 04100 Latina, Italy
Riccardo Marrone
Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, 04100 Latina, Italy
Roberta Parisella
Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, 04100 Latina, Italy
Sergio Parrocchia
Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, 04100 Latina, Italy
Teresa Bossù
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”—Sezione di Roma, 00178 Rome, Italy
Stefano Bilei
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”—Sezione di Roma, 00178 Rome, Italy
Maria Laura De Marchis
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana “M. Aleandri”—Sezione di Roma, 00178 Rome, Italy
Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a widespread opportunistic pathogen that causes the listeriosis foodborne disease. This bacterium has become a common contaminant of handled food, and a relevant public health issue. Here we describe a nosocomial outbreak of listeriosis caused by an ST451 strain of L. monocytogenes involving three cancer and one immunocompromised patients hospitalized in different units from the same hospital during September and October 2020. The epidemiological investigation was conducted using traditional microbiological methodology combined with a whole genome sequencing approach. The source of contamination was identified in the kitchen hospital, where a meat slicer used to prepare patients’ meals was tested positive to the same sequence type (ST) of L. monocytogenes. This is the first report of an outbreak of listeriosis caused by ST451 in Italy.
