A Monaghan doctor has given advice about ongoing concerns over listeriosis, following the death of a person in Ireland.
Dr. Illona Duffy is reminding people that the infection is rare and the majority of people who get it don't have any lifelong harm or risk to life.
People with weakened immunity such as older people, people on certain medications, those going through chemo or someone who is pregnant are at higher risk of more severe infections or dehydration.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan show this morning, Dr. Duffy explained the infection.
"Listeriosis is when people get the infection and it's and you get infected by eating food that's contaminated with listeria which is the actual bug and the incubation period so there can be a bit of a delay from getting that infection in your system to developing the first symptoms and that can vary in people from 3 to 70 days and the average incubation period is about three weeks meaning that when you meet the bug initially it can take up to three weeks before you start getting symptoms so what are the symptoms? Flu-like kind of things often so that's why many people don't even know they have it and really unless there's an outbreak where let's say batches of food as has happened here have become infected where lots of people are getting it may not even be on people's radar may not be tested for and may not be formally diagnosed"
