Listeria is especially harmful if you are pregnant, aged 65 or older, or have a weakened immune system due to certain medical conditions or treatments. If you are pregnant, it can cause pregnancy loss, premature birth, or a life-threatening infection in your newborn. Other people can be infected with Listeria, but they rarely become seriously ill.
If you are pregnant, aged 65 or older, or have a weakened immune system:
- Do not eat raw enoki mushrooms. Cook enoki mushrooms thoroughly.
- Listeria can grow on foods kept in the refrigerator, but it is easily killed by heating food to a high enough temperature.
- Keep raw enoki mushrooms separate from foods that won’t be cooked.
- This prevents the spread of Listeria germs from enoki mushrooms to foods that you won’t cook before eating.
- Wash your hands after handling raw enoki mushrooms.
- Clean your refrigerator, containers, and surfaces that have touched raw enoki mushrooms.
- Listeria can easily spread among food, surfaces, and hands.
- Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of severe Listeria illness after eating enoki mushrooms:
- People who are not pregnant may experience headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, in addition to fever and muscle aches.
- Pregnant people usually experience only fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. However, Listeria can cause pregnancy loss or premature birth. It can also cause serious illness or death in newborns.
