listeriasis

Main Entry: lis·te·ri·o·sis
Pronunciation: (")lis-"tir-E-'O-s&s
Variant: also lis·ter·el·lo·sis /"lis-t&-r&-'lO-s&s/
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural lis·te·ri·o·ses also lis·te·lo·ses /-"sEz/
: a serious disease of a wide variety of animals including humans that is caused by a bacterium of the genus Listeria(L. monocytogenes) and that is often fatal in animals where it takes the form of a severe encephalitis accompanied by disordered movements but in humans is not usually fatal except in neonates,the elderly, and the immunocompromised where in neonates it is often accompanied by granuloma formation, meningitis, meningoencephalitis, and septicemia and in adults by meningitis, bacteremia withchills and fever (especially in pregnant women), and sometimes endocarditis —see CIRCLING DISEASE

listeriosis lis·te·ri·o·sis (lĭ-stǐr'ē-ō'sĭs)
n.
A bacterial disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes, affecting wild and domestic animals and occasionally humans and characterized by fever, meningitis, and encephalitis.