Fecal shedding of Listeria monocytogenes during murine listeriosis after intravenous infection.

Female NMRI SPF-Mice were intravenously infected with L. monocytogenes and the feces and urine samples were cultured to detect a possible presence of the bacterium. In 6 out of 10 mice, the bacteria occurred in the feces, but not in the urine samples. Listerial shedding was detected only during acute listeriosis from day 2 to day 9 post infectionem. Thus, listerial shedding after infection via routes other than the gastrointestinal tract is possible not only in newborns, but also in adult experimental animals.